BL  1801  . G5  4 2 1905 
Giles,  Herbert  Allen,  1845- 
1935  . 

Religions  of  ancient  China 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
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Religions  Ancient  and  Modern 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


RELIGIONS  : ANCIENT  AND  MODERN. 

Foolscap  8 vo.  is.  net  per  volume. 

It  is  intended  in  this  series  to  present  to  a large  public  the  Sal- 
ient Features,  first  of  the  Great  Religions,  secondly  of  the 
Great  Philosophies,  and  thirdly  of  the  Great  Literary 
and  Artistic  Reputations  of  the  Human  Race. 

PANTHEISM  : ITS  STORY  AND  SIGNIFICANCE. 

By  J.  Allanson  Picton,  M.A.  Author  of  The  Religion 
of  the  Universe , etc. 

RELIGION  OF  ANCIENT  GREECE. 

By  Miss  Jane  Harrison,  Fellow  of  Newnham  College, 
Author  of  Prolegomena  to  the  Study  of  Greek  Religion,  etc. 

ANIMISM. 

By  Edward  Clodd,  Author  of  Pioneers  of  Evolution. 

RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA. 

By  H.  A.  Giles,  M.A.,  LL.D.  (Aberd.),  Professor  of 
Chinese  at  Cambridge  U niversity. 


The  following  Volumes  are  in  preparation  : 

ISLAM.  Mr.  T.  W.  Arnold,  Assistant  Librarian,  India 
Office. 

BUDDHISM.  2 vols.  Prof.  Rhys  Davids,  LL.D. 
HINDUISM.  Mr.  T.  W.  Arnold. 

FETISHISM  AND  MAGIC.  Prof.  Alfred  C.  Haddon, 
F.R.S. 

THE  MYTHOLOGY  OF  ANCIENT  BRITAIN.  Mr. 
Charles  Squire. 

CELTIC  RELIGION.  Prof.  Anwyl. 

SCANDINAVIAN  RELIGION.  Mr.  W.  A.  CrAigie. 

THE  RELIGION  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT.  Prof.  Flin- 
ders Petrie.  F.R.S. 

THE  RELIGION  OF  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA. 
Dr.  Theophilus  G.  Pinches. 


Religions  of  Ancient 


BY  HERBERT  A.  GILES,  M.A.,  LL.D  (Aberd.) 


Professor  of  Chinese  at  the  University  of  Cambridge, 
Author  of  u Historic  China,"  “ A History 
of  Chinese  Literature  " “ China  and 
the  Chinese  " etc.,  etc. 


LONDON 

ARCHIBALD  CONSTABLE  G5  CO  Ltd 


Butler  & Tanner, 

The  Selwood  Printing  Works, 
Frome.  and  London- 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I. 

The  Ancient  Faith 

7 

II. 

Confucianism  .... 

. 34 

III. 

Taoism  ...... 

. 4G 

IV. 

Materialism  ..... 

. 51 

V. 

Buddhism  and  Other  Religions 

. G3 

V 


* 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT 
CHINA 


I. — The  Ancient  Faith 


Philo-  The  problem  of  the  universe  has 

Theory  of  never  offered  the  slightest  difficulty 
the  Universe.  (Tfinese  philosophers.  Before  the 

beginning  of  all  things,  there  was  Nothing.  In 
the  lapse  of  ages  Nothing  coalesced  into  Unity, 
the  Great  Monad.  After  more  ages,  the  Great 
Monad  separated  into  Duality,  the  Male  and 
Female  Principles  in  nature  ; and  then,  by  a 
process  of  biogenesis,  the  visible  universe  was 
produced. 

An  addition,  however,  to  this  simple 
Popukr  r 

Cosmo-  system  had  to  be  made,  in  deference 

gony'  to,  and  on  a plane  with,  the  in- 

telligence of  the  masses.  According  to  this, 
the  Male  and  Female  Principles  were  each 
subdivided  into  Greater  and  Lesser,  and  then 
from  the  interaction  of  these  four  agencies  a 
being,  named  P’an  Ku,  came  into  existence.  He 

7 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


seems  to  have  come  into  life  endowed  with  per- 
fect knowledge,  and  his  function  was  to  set  the 
economy  of  the  universe  in  order.  He  is  often 
depicted  as  wielding  a huge  adze,  and  engaged 
in  constructing  the  world.  With  his  death  the 
details  of  creation  began.  His  breath  became 
the  wind  ; his  voice,  the  thunder  ; his  left  eye,  the 
sun  ; his  right  eye,  the  moon  ; his  blood  flowed 
in  rivers  ; his  hair  grew  into  trees  and  plants  ; 
his  flesh  became  the  soil  ; his  sweat  descended  as 
rain  ; while  the  parasites  which  infested  his  body 
were  the  origin  of  the  human  race. 

Early  Chinese  writers  tell  us  that 
6on°and  Fu  Hsi,  B.c.  2953-2838,  was  the  first 

of°Spirlts  Emperor  to  organize  sacrifices  to, 

and  worship  of,  spirits.  In  this  he 
was  followed  by  the  Yellow  Emperor,  b.c.  2698- 
2598,  who  built  a temple  for  the  worship  of  God, 
in  which  incense  was  used,  and  first  sacrificed  to 
the  Mountains  and  Rivers.  He  is  also  said  to 
have  established  the  worship  of  the  sun,  moon, 
and  five  planets,  and  to  have  elaborated  the 
ceremonial  of  ancestral  worship. 

The  Yellow  Emperor  was  followed 
Father,  by  the  Emperor  Shao  Hao,  B.c. 
Earth  the  2598-2514,  “ who  instituted  the  music 
of  the  Great  Abyss  in  order  to  bring 
spirits  and  men  into  harmony.”  Then  came 
the  Emperor  Chuan  Hsii,  B.c.  2514-2436,  of 

8 


THE  ANCIENT  FAITH 


shipped 
with  music 
and 

dancing. 


whom  it  is  said  that  he  appointed  an  officer 
“ to  preside  over  the  worship  of  God  and  Earth, 
in  order  to  form  a link  between  the  spirits  and 
God  Wor-  man,”  and  also  “ caused  music  to 
be  played  for  the  enjoyment  of  God.” 
Music,  by  the  way,  is  said  to  have 
been  introduced  into  worship  in 
imitation  of  thunder,  and  was  therefore  sup- 
posed to  be  pleasing  to  the  Almighty.  After 
him  followed  the  Emperor  Ti  K’u,  b.c.  2436-2366, 
who  dabbled  in  astronomy,  and  “ came  to  a 
knowledge  of  spiritual  beings,  which  he  respect- 
fully worshipped.”  The  Emperor  Yao,  b.c. 
2357-2255,  built  a temple  for  the  worship  of  God, 
and  also  caused  dances  to  be  performed  for  the 
enjoyment  of  God  on  occasions  of  special  sacrifice 
and  communication  with  the  spiritual  world. 
After  him,  we  reach  the  Emperor  Shun,  b.c. 
2255-2205,  in  whose  favour  Yao  abdicated. 

Before,  however,  Shun  ventured  to 
Deities0.”2*  mount  the  throne,  he  consulted  the 
stars,  in  order  to  find  out  if  the 
unseen  Powers  were  favourable  to  his  eleva- 
tion ; and  on  receiving  a satisfactory  reply, 
“ he  proceeded  to  sacrifice  to  God,  to  the  Six 
Honoured  Ones  (unknown),  to  the  Mountains 
and  Rivers,  and  to  Spirits  in  general.  ...  In 
the  second  month  of  the  year,  he  made  a tour  of 
inspection  eastwards,  as  far  as  Mount  T’ai  (in 

9 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


modern  Shantung),  where  he  presented  a burnt 
offering  to  God,  and  sacrificed  to  the  Mountains 
and  Rivers.” 

G0(l  The  Great  Yii,  who  drained  the 

punishes  empire,  and  came  to  the  throne  in  B.c. 
the  wicked  x t 

and  rewards  2205  as  first  Emperor  or  the  Hsia 

the  good.  dynasty,  followed  in  the  lines  of  his 
pious  predecessors.  But  the  Emperor  K’ung 
Chia,  b.c.  1879-1848,  who  at  first  had  treated 
the  Spirits  with  all  due  reverence,  fell  into  evil 
ways,  and  was  abandoned  by  God.  This  was 
the  beginning  of  the  end.  In  b.c.  1766  T’ang  the 
Completer,  founder  of  the  Shang  dynasty,  set  to 
work  to  overthrow  Chieh  Kuei,  the  last  ruler  of 
the  Hsia  dynasty.  He  began  by  sacrificing  to 
Almighty  God,  and  asked  for  a blessing  on  his 
undertaking.  And  in  his  subsequent  proclama- 
tion to  the  empire,  he  spoke  of  that  God  as  fol- 
lows : “ God  has  given  to  every  man  a conscience  ; 
and  if  all  men  acted  in  accordance  with  its  dictates, 
they  would  not  stray  from  the  right  path.  . . • 
The  way  of  God  is  to  bless  the  good  and  punish  the 
bad.  He  has  sent  down  calamities  on  the  House 
of  Hsia,  to  make  manifest  its  crimes.” 

God  In  b.c.  1637  the  Emperor  T’ai  Mou 

manifests  succeeded.  His  reign  was  marked 

displeasure.  , , , 

by  the  supernatural  appearance  in 

the  palace  of  two  mulberry-trees,  which  in  a 

single  night  grew  to  such  a size  that  they 


io 


THE  ANCIENT  FAITH 


could  hardly  be  spanned  by  two  hands.  The 
Emperor  was  terrified  ; whereupon  a Minister 
said,  “ No  prodigy  is  a match  for  virtue.  Your 
Majesty’s  government  is  no  doubt  at  fault,  and 
some  reform  of  conduct  is  necessary.”  Accord- 
ingly, the  Emperor  began  to  act  more  circum- 
spectly ; after  which  the  mulberry-trees  soon 
withered  and  died. 

The  Emperor  Wu  Ting,  b.c.  1324- 
inTdream.  1264’  began  bis  reign  by  not  speaking 
for  three  years,  leaving  all  State 
affairs  to  be  decided  by  his  Prime  Minister, 
while  he  himself  gained  experience.  Later 
on,  the  features  of  a sage  were  revealed  to 
him  in  a dream  ; and  on  waking,  he  caused  a 
portrait  of  the  apparition  to  be  prepared  and 
circulated  throughout  the  empire.  The  sage 
was  found,  and  for  a long  time  aided  the  Emperor 
in  the  right  administration  of  government.  On 
the  occasion  of  a sacrifice,  a pheasant  perched 
upon  the  handle  of  the  great  sacrificial  tripod, 
and  crowed,  at  which  the  Emperor  was  much 
alarmed.  “ Be  not  afraid,”  cried  a Minister  ; 
“ but  begin  by  reforming  your  government. 
God  looks  down  upon  mortals,  and  in  accord- 
ance with  their  deserts  grants  them  many  years 
or  few.  God  does  not  shorten  men’s  lives ; they 
do  that  themselves.  Some  are  wanting  in  virtue, 
and  will  not  acknowledge  their  transgressions  ; 

ii 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


only  when  God  chastens  them  do  they  cry, 
What  are  we  to  do  ? ” 

One  of  the  last  Emperors  of  the 
morphism  Shang  dynasty,  Wu  I,  who  reigned 
2,"?.  ..  B.c.  1198-1194,  even  went  so  far  as  “ to 
make  an  image  in  human  form,  which 
he  called  God.  With  this  image  he  used  to  play 
at  dice,  causing  some  one  to  throw  for  the  image  ; 
and  if  ‘ God  ’ lost,  he  would  overwhelm  the 
image  with  insult.  He  also  made  a bag  of  leather, 
which  he  filled  with  blood  and  hung  up.  Then 
he  would  shoot  at  it,  saying  that  he  was  shooting 
God.  By  and  by,  when  he  was  out  hunting, 
he  was  struck  down  by  a violent  thunderclap, 
and  killed.” 


Finally,  when  the  Shang  dynasty 
Indignant  san^  into  the  lowest  depths  of  moral 
abasement,  King  Wu,  who  charged 
himself  with  its  overthrow,  and  who  subse- 
quently became  the  first  sovereign  of  the  Chou 
dynasty,  offered  sacrifices  to  Almighty  God,  and 
also  to  Mother  Earth.  “ The  King  of  Shang,” 
he  said  in  his  address  to  the  high  officers  who 
collected  around  him,  “ does  not  reverence  God 
above,  and  inflicts  calamities  on  the  people  below. 
Almighty  God  is  moved  with  indignation.”  On 
the  day  of  the  final  battle  he  declared  that  he  was 
acting  in  the  matter  of  punishment  merely  as  the 
instrument  of  God  ; and  after  his  great  victory 


12 


THE  ANCIENT  FAITH 


and  the  establishment  of  his  own  line,  it  was  to 
God  that  he  rendered  thanks. 

In  this  primitive  monotheism,  of 
No  Hell'1’  whi-ch  onty  scanty,  but  no  doubt 
genuine,  records  remain,  no  place 
was  found  for  any  being  such  as  the  Buddhist 
Mara  or  the  Devil  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments. God  inflicted  His  own  punishments 
by  visiting  calamities  on  mankind,  just  as 
He  bestowed  His  own  rewards  by  sending 
bounteous  harvests  in  due  season.  Evil  spirits 
were  a later  invention,  and  their  operations  were 
even  then  confined  chiefly  to  tearing  people’s 
hearts  out,  and  so  forth,  for  their  own  particular 
pleasure  ; we  certainly  meet  no  cases  of  evil 
spirits  wishing  to  undermine  man’s  allegiance 
to  God,  or  desiring  to  make  people  wicked  in 
order  to  secure  their  everlasting  punishment. 
The  vision  of  Purgatory,  with  all  its  horrid 
tortures,  was  introduced  into  China  by  Budd- 
hism, and  was  subsequently  annexed  by  the 
Taoists,  some  time  between  the  third  and  sixth 
centuries  a.d. 

Chinese  Before  passing  to  the  firmer  ground, 
Terms  for  historically  speaking,  of  the  Chou 
dynasty,  it  may  be  as  well  to  state 
here  that  there  are  two  terms  in  ancient 
Chinese  literature  which  seem  to  be  used  in- 
discriminately for  God.  One  is  T'ien,  which 

13 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 

has  come  to  include  the  material  heavens,  the 
sky  ; and  the  other  is  Shang  Ti,  which  has  come 
to  include  the  spirits  of  deceased  Emperors. 
These  two  terms  appear  simultaneously,  so  to 
speak,  in  the  earliest  documents  which  have 
comedown  to  us,  dating  back  to  something  like 
the  twentieth  century  before  Christ.  Priority, 
however,  belongs  beyond  all  doubt  to  T'ien, 
which  it  would  have  been  more  natural  to  find 
meaning,  first  the  visible  heavens,  and  secondly 
the  Deity,  whose  existence  beyond  the  sky  would 
be  inferred  from  such  phenomena  as  lightning, 
thunder,  wind,  and  rain.  But  the  process  appears 
to  have  been  the  other  way,  so  far  at  any  rate  as 
the  written  language  is  concerned.  The  Chinese 
script,  when  it  first  came  into  existence,  was 
purely  pictorial,  and  confined  to  visible  objects 
which  were  comparatively  easy  to  depict.  There 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  any  attempt  to  draw 
a picture  of  the  sky.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
character  T'ien  is  just  such  a representation  of  a 
human  being  as  would  be  expected  from  the  hand 
of  a prehistoric  artist ; and  under  this  unmis- 
takable shape  the  character  appears  on  bells  and 
tripods,  as  seen  in  collections  of  inscriptions,  so 
late  as  the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries  b.c.,  after 
which  the  head  is  flattened  to  a line,  and  the 
arms  are  raised  until  they  form  another  line 
parallel  to  that  of  the  head. 

14 


THE  ANCIENT  FAITH 


Extracts  from  the  Hsiao-t'ang-chi-ku-lu,  Pt.  I,  pp. 
12  verso,  20  verso,  and  Pt.  II,  p.  25  recto. 


2.  T’ien  followed  V* 

by  Tzii  son = Son 

of  God,  or  Son  of  3.  T’ien  with  Hat- 
Heaven.  tened  head. 


4.  Modern  form 
of  T ien. 


15 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


The  term  Shanq  Ti  means  literally 
Distinction  . J 

between  Supreme  Ruler.  It  is  not  quite  so 

Shang ^ vague  as  T’ien,  which  seems  to  be 
more  of  an  abstraction,  while  Shang 
Ti  is  a genuinely  personal  God.  Reference  to 
T'ien  is  usually  associated  with  fate  or  destiny, 
calamities,  blessings,  prayers  for  help,  etc.  The 
commandments  of  T'ien  are  hard  to  obey  ; He 
is  compassionate,  to  be  feared,  unjust,  and  cruel. 
Shang  Ti  lives  in  heaven,  walks,  leaves  tracks 
on  the  ground,  enjoys  the  sweet  savour  of  sacri- 
fices, approves  or  disapproves  of  conduct,  deals 
with  rewards  and  punishments  in  a more  par- 
ticular way,  and  comes  more  actually  into  touch 
with  the  human  race. 

Thus  Shang  Ti  would  be  the  God  who  walked 
in  the  garden  in  the  cool  of  the  day,  the  God  who 
smelled  the  sweet  savour  of  Noah’s  sacrifice,  and 
the  God  who  allowed  Moses  to  see  His  back. 
T'ien  would  be  the  God  of  Gods  of  the  Psalms, 
whose  mercy  endureth  for  ever  ; the  everlasting 
God  of  Isaiah,  who  fainteth  not,  neither  is  weary. 
Roman  These  two,  in  fact,  were  the  very 

Dissen'0  terms  favoured  by  the  early  Jesuit 

sions.  missionaries  to  China,  though  not 

with  the  limitations  above  suggested,  as  fit 
and  proper  renderings  for  God  ; and  of  the  two 
terms  the  great  Manchu  Emperor  K’ang  Hsi 
chose  T'ien.  It  has  been  thought  that  the  con- 
16 


THE  ANCIENT  FAITH 


version  of  China  to  Christianity  under  the  guiding 
influence  of  the  Jesuits  would  soon  have  become 
an  accomplished  fact,  but  for  the  ignorant  opposi- 
tion to  the  use  of  these  terms  by  the  Franciscans 
and  Dominicans,  who  referred  this  question, 
among  others,  to  the  Pope.  In  1704  Clement  XI 
published  a bull  declaring  that  the  Chinese 
equivalent  for  God  was  T'ien  C%w=Lord  of 
Heaven  ; and  such  it  has  continued  to  be  ever 
since,  so  far  as  the  Roman  Catholic  church  is 
concerned,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  T'im  Ghu 
was  a name  given  at  the  close  of  the  third  cen- 
tury b.c.  to  one  of  the  Eight  Spirits. 

The  two  That  the  two  terms  refer  in  Chinese 
Terms  are  thought  to  one  and  the  same  Be- 
ing, though  possibly  with  differing 
attributes,  even  down  to  modern  times,  may 
be  seen  from  the  account  of  a dream  by  the 
Emperor  Yung  Lo,  a.d.  1403-1425,  in  which 
His  Majesty  relates  that  an  angel  appeared  to 
him,  with  a message  from  Shang  Ti  ; upon  which 
the  Emperor  remarked,  “ Is  not  this  a command 
from  T'ien  ? ” A comparison  might  perhaps  be 
instituted  with  the  use  of  “ God  ” and  “ Jeho- 
vah ” in  the  Bible.  At  the  same  time  it  must 
be  noted  that  this  view  was  not  suggested  by  the 
Emperor  K’ang  Hsi,  who  fixed  upon  T'ien  as  the 
appropriate  term.  It  is  probable  that,  vigorous 
Confucianist  as  he  was,  he  was  anxious  to  appear 

17  B 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


on  the  side  rather  of  an  abstract  than  of  a personal 
Deity,  and  that  he  was  repelled  by  the  over- 
wrought anthropomorphism  of  the  Christian  God. 
His  conversion  was  said  to  have  been  very  near 
at  times  ; we  read,  however,  that,  when  hard 
pressed  by  the  missionaries  to  accept  baptism, 
“ he  always  excused  himself  by  saying  that  he 
worshipped  the  same  God  as  the  Christians.” 
God  The  Chou  dynasty  lasted  from 

in  the  b.c.  1122  to  B.c.  255.  It  was 

<<  Odes  ” 

China’s  feudal  age,  when  the  empire, 
then  included  between  latitude  34°-40°  and 
longitude  109°-118°,  was  split  up  into  a number 
of  vassal  States,  which  owned  allegiance  to  a 
suzerain  State.  And  it  is  to  the  earlier  centuries 
of  the  Chou  dynasty  that  must  be  attributed  the 
composition  of  a large  number  of  ballads  of 
various  kinds,  ultimately  collected  and  edited 
by  Confucius,  and  now  known  as  the  Odes.  From 
these  Odes  it  is  abundantly  clear  that 
Anthropo-  ^he  Chinese  people  continued  to  hold, 
morphic  more  clearly  and  more  firmly  than 
Personal.  ever,  a deep-seated  belief  in  the 
existence  of  an  anthropomorphic  and 
personal  God,  whose  one  care  was  the  welfare  of 
the  human  race  : — 

There  is  Almighty  God  ; 

Does  He  hate  any  one  1 


l8 


THE  ANCIENT  FAITH 


He  reigns 
in  glory. 


The  soul  of  King  Wen,  father  of  the 
King  Wu  below,  and  posthumously 
raised  by  his  son  to  royal  rank,  is  represented 
as  enjoying  happiness  in  a state  beyond  the 
grave  : — 

King  Wen  is  on  high. 

In  glory  in  heaven. 

His  comings  and  his  goings 

Are  to  and  from  the  presence  of  God. 


He  is  a 
Spirit. 


Sometimes  in  the  Odes  there  is  a 
hint  that  God,  in  spite  of  His  anthro- 
pomorphic semblance,  is  a spirit  : — 


The  doings  of  God 

Have  neither  sound  nor  smell. 


Spiritual  Spirits  were  certainly  supposed  to 

Q6ings  ^ «/  x j. 

move  freely  among  mortals 


Do  not  say,  This  place  is  not  public  ; 

No  one  can  see  me  here. 

The  approaches  of  spiritual  Beings 
Cannot  be  calculated  beforehand  ; 

But  on  no  account  should  they  be  ignored. 


The  God 
of  Battle. 


In  the  hour  of  battle  the  God  of 
ancient  China  was  as  much  a partici- 
pator in  the  fight  as  the  God  of  Israel  in  the 
Old  Testament  : — 


God  is  on  your  side  ! 

was  the  cry  which  stimulated  King  Wu  to  break 

19 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


down  the  opposing  ranks  of  Shang.  To  King 
Wu’s  father,  and  others,  direct  communications 
had  previously  been  made  from  heaven,  with  a 
view  to  the  regeneration  of  the  empire  : — 

The  dynasties  of  Hsia  and  Shang 

Had  not  satisfied  God  with  their  government  ; 

So  throughout  the  various  States 
He  sought  and  considered 

For  a State  on  which  He  might  confer  the  rule. 
God  said  to  King  Wen, 

I am  pleased  with  your  conspicuous  virtue, 

Without  noise  and  without  display, 

Without  heat  and  without  change, 

Without  consciousness  of  effort. 

Following  the  pattern  of  God. 

God  said  to  King  Wen, 

Take  measures  against  hostile  States, 

Along  with  your  brethren, 

Get  ready  your  grappling-irons, 

And  your  engines  of  assault, 

To  attack  the  walls  of  Ts’ung. 

God  The  Ode  from  which  the  following 

sends 

Famine.  extract  is  taken  carries  us  back  to  the 
ninth  century  B.C.,  at  the  time  of  a 
prolonged  and  disastrous  drought  : — 

Glorious  was  the  Milky  Way, 

Revolving  brightly  in  the  sky, 

When  the  king  said,  Alas  ! 

What  crime  have  my  people  committed  now, 

That  God  sends  down  death  and  disorder, 


20 


THE  ANCIENT  FAITH 


And  famine  comes  upon  us  again  ? 

There  is  no  spirit  to  whom  I have  not  sacrificed  ; 
There  is  no  victim  that  I have  grudged  ; 

Our  sacrificial  symbols  are  all  used  up  ; — 

How  is  it  that  I am  not  heard  ? 


The  keystone  of  the  Confucian  phil- 
osophy, that  man  is  born  good,  will  be 
found  in  the  following  lines  : — 

How  mighty  is  God  ! 

How  clothed  in  majesty  is  God, 

And  how  unsearchable  are  His  judgments  ! 

God  gives  birth  to  the  people. 

But  their  natures  are  not  constant ; 

All  have  the  same  beginning. 

But  few  have  the  same  end. 


The 

Confucian 

Criterion. 


God,  however,  is  not  held  responsible  for  the 
sufferings  of  mankind.  King  Wen,  in  an  address 
to  the  last  tyrant  of  the  House  of  Shang,  says 
plainly, 


It  is  not  God  who  has  caused  this  evil  time. 

But  it  is  you  who  have  strayed  from  the  old  paths. 


Worshipped  on  certain  occasions  as 


The 

Associate 

of  God.  the  Associate  of  God,  and  often  sum- 
moned to  aid  in  hours  of  distress  or 
danger,  was  a personage  known  as  Hou  Chi,  said 
to  have  been  the  original  ancestor  of  the  House 
of  Chou.  His  story,  sufficiently  told 
genesis.  m the  Udes,  is  curious  tor  several 
reasons,  and  especially  as  an  instance 
21 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


in  Chinese  literature  which,  in  the  absence  of 
any  known  husband,  comes  near  suggesting  the 
much-vexed  question  of  parthenogenesis  : — 

She  who  first  gave  birth  to  our  people 
Was  the  lady  Chiang  Yiian. 

How  did  she  give  birth  to  them  ? 

She  offered  up  a sacrifice 
That  she  might  not  be  childless ; 

Then  she  trod  in  a footprint  of  God’s,  and  conceived. 
The  great  and  blessed  one, 

Pregnant  with  a new  birth  to  be, 

And  brought  forth  and  nourished 
Him  who  was  Hou  Chi. 

When  she  had  fulfilled  her  months, 

Her  firstborn  came  forth  like  a lamb. 

There  was  no  bursting,  no  rending. 

No  injury,  no  hurt, 

In  order  to  emphasise  his  divinity. 

Did  not  God  give  her  comfort  ? 

Had  He  not  accepted  her  sacrifice, 

So  that  thus  easily  she  brought  forth  her  son  ? 

He  was  exposed  in  a narrow  lane, 

But  sheep  and  oxen  protected  and  suckled  liim ; 
He  was  exposed  in  a wide  forest, 

But  woodcutters  found  him  ; 

He  was  exposed  on  cold  ice. 

But  birds  covered  him  with  their  wings. 

And  so  he  grew  to  man’s  estate, 
ofP<Hou°Chi.  and  taught  the  people  husbandry, 
with  a success  that  has  never  been 
rivalled.  Consequently,  he  was  deified,  and  dur- 
ing several  centuries  of  the  Chou  dynasty  was 
united  in  worship  with  God  : — 


22 


THE  ANCIENT  FAITH 


O wise  Hou  Chi, 

Fit  Associate  of  God, 

Founder  of  our  race, 

There  is  none  greater  than  thou  ! 

Thou  gavest  us  wheat  and  barley, 

Which  God  appointed  for  our  nourishment. 

And  without  distinction  of  territory, 

Didst  inculcate  the  virtues  over  our  vast  dominions. 

DeU'es  During  tlie  long  period  covered  by 

the  Chou  dynasty,  various  other 
deities,  of  more  or  less  importance,  were  called 
into  existence. 

The  patriarchal  Emperor  Shen  Nung,  b.c. 
2838-2698,  who  had  taught  his  people  to  till 
the  ground  and  eat  of  the  fruits  of  their  labour, 
was  deified  as  the  tutelary  genius  of  agricul- 
ture : — 

That  my  fields  arc  in  such  good  condition 
Is  matter  of  joy  to  my  husbandmen. 

With  lutes,  and  with  drums  beating, 

We  will  invoke  the  Father  of  Husbandry, 

And  pray  for  sweet  rain, 

To  increase  the  produce  of  our  millet  fields, 

And  to  bless  my  men  and  their  wives. 

There  were  also  sacrifices  to  the  Father  of 
War,  whoever  he  may  have  been  ; to  the  Spirits 
of  Wind,  Rain,  and  Fire  ; and  even  to  a deity 
who  watched  over  the  welfare  of  silkworms. 
Since  those  days,  the  number  of  spiritual  beings 
who  receive  worship  from  the  Chinese,  some  in 

23 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


one  part  of  the  empire,  some  in  another,  has 
increased  enormously.  A single  work,  published 
in  1640,  gives  notices  of  no  fewer  than  eight 
hundred  divinities. 

Super-  During  the  period  under  considera- 

stitions.  tion,  all  kinds  of  superstition  prevailed  ; 
among  others,  that  referring  to  the  rainbow. 
The  rainbow  was  believed  by  the  vulgar  to  be 
an  emanation  from  an  enormous  oyster  away  in 
the  great  ocean  which  surrounded  the  world,  i.e. 
China.  Philosophers  held  it  to  be  the  result  of 
undue  proportions  in  the  mixture  of  the  two 
cosmogonical  principles  which  when  properly 
blended  produce  the  harmony  of  nature.  By 
both  parties  it  was  considered  to  be  an  inaus- 
picious manifestation,  and  merely  to  point  at  it 
would  produce  a sore  on  the  hand. 

Super-  Several  events  of  a supernatural 

Manifesta-  c^aracfer  are  recorded  as  having  taken 
tions.  place  under  the  Chou  dynasty.  In 
b.c.  756,  one  of  the  feudal  Dukes  saw  a vision 
of  a yellow  serpent  which  descended  from 
heaven,  and  laid  its  head  on  the  slope  of  a 
mountain.  The  Duke  spoke  of  this  to  his  astro- 
loger, who  said,  “ It  is  a manifestation  of  God  ; 
sacrifice  to  it.” 

In  b.c.  747,  another  Duke  found  on  a moun- 
tain a being  in  the  semblance  of  a stone.  Sacri- 
fices were  at  once  offered,  and  the  stone  was 

24 


THE  ANCIENT  FAITH 


deified,  and  received  regular  worship  from  that 
time  forward. 

In  b.c.  659,  a third  Duke  was  in  a trance  for 
five  days,  when  he  saw  a vision  of  God,  and 
received  from  Him  instructions  as  to  matters  then 
pressing.  For  many  generations  afterwards  the 
story  ran  that  the  Duke  had  been  up  to  Heaven. 
This  became  a favourite  theme  for  romancers- 
It  is  stated  in  the  biography  of  a certain  Feng 
Po  that  “ one  night  he  saw  the  gate  of  heaven 
open,  and  beheld  -exceeding  glory  within,  which 
shone  into  his  courtyard.” 

The  following  story  is  told  by  Huai-nan  Tzii 
(d.  b.c.  122) : — “ Once  when  the  Duke  of  Lu-yang 
was  at  war  with  the  Han  State,  and  sunset 
drew  near  while  a battle  was  still  fiercely  raging, 
the  Duke  held  up  his  spear  and  shook  it  at  the 
sun,  which  forthwith  went  back  three  zodiacal 
signs.” 


Only  the 
Emperor 
worships 
God  and 
Earth. 


From  the  records  of  this  period  we 
can  also  see  how  jealously  the  wor- 
ship of  God  and  Earth  was  reserved 
for  the  Emperor  alone. 

In  b.c.  651,  Duke  Huan  of  the  Ch’i  State,  one 
of  the  feudal  nobles  to  be  mentioned  later  on, 
wished  to  signalise  his  accession  to  the  post  of 
doyen  or  leader  of  the  vassal  States  by  offering 
the  great  sacrifices  to  God  and  to  Earth.  He 
was,  however,  dissuaded  from  this  by  a wise 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


Minister,  who  pointed  out  that  only  those  could 
perform  these  ceremonies  who  had  personally 
received  the  Imperial  mandate  from  God. 

This  same  Minister  is  said  to  be  responsible 
for  the  following  utterance  : — 

“ Duke  Huan  asked  Kuan  Chung,  saying,  To 
what  should  a prince  attach  the  highest  impor- 
tance % To  God,  replied  the  Minister  ; at  Avhich 
Duke  Huan  gazed  upwards  to  the  sky.  The 
God  I mean,  continued  Kuan  Chung,  is  not  the 
illimitable  blue  above.  A true  prince  makes  the 
people  his  God.” 

Much  has  been  recorded  by  the  Chinese 
Sacrifices.  17 

on  the  subject  of  sacrifice, — more  indeed 

than  can  be  easily  condensed  into  a small  compass. 

First  of  all,  there  were  the  great  sacrifices  to  God 

and  to  Earth,  at  the  winter  and  summer  solstices 

respectively,  which  were  reserved  for  the  Son  of 

Heaven  alone.  Besides  what  may  be  called 

private  sacrifices,  the  Emperor  sacrificed  also  to 

the  four  quarters,  and  to  the  mountains  and 

rivers  of  the  empire  ; while  the  feudal  nobles 

sacrificed  each  to  his  own  quarter,  and  to  the 

mountains  and  rivers  of  his  own  domain.  The 

victim  offered  by  the  Emperor  on  a blazing  pile  of 

wood  was  an  ox  of  one  colour,  always  a young 

animal ; a feudal  noble  would  use  any  fatted 

ox  ; and  a petty  official  a sheep  or  a pig.  When 

sacrificing  to  the  spirits  of  the  land  and  of  grain, 

26 


THE  ANCIENT  FAITH 


the  Son  of  Heaven  used  a bull,  a ram,  and  a boar  ; 
the  feudal  nobles  only  a ram  and  a boar  ; and 
the  common  people,  scallions  and  eggs  in  spring, 
wheat  and  fish  in  summer,  millet  and  a sucking- 
pig  in  autumn,  and  unhulled  rice  and  a goose  in 
winter.  If  there  was  anything  infelicitous  about 
the  victim  intended  for  God,  it  was  used  for  Hou 
Chi.  The  victim  intended  for  God  required  to 
be  kept  in  a clean  stall  for  three  months  ; that 
for  Hou  Chi  simply  required  to  be  perfect  in  its 
parts.  This  was  the  way  in  which  they  distin- 
guished between  heavenly  and  earthly  spirits. 

In  primeval  times,  we  are  told,  sacrifices  con- 
sisted of  meat  and  drink,  the  latter  being  the 
“ mysterious  liquid,”  water,  for  which  wine  was 
substituted  later  on.  The  ancients  roasted  millet 
and  pieces  of  pork  ; they  made  a hole  in  the 
ground  and  scooped  the  water  from  it  with  their 
two  hands,  beating  upon  an  earthen  drum  with 
a clay  drumstick.  Thus  they  expressed  their 
reverence  for  spiritual  beings. 

“ Sacrifices,”  according  to  the  Book  of  Rites 
(Legge’s  translation),  “ should  not  be  fre- 
quently repeated.  Such  frequency  is  indic- 
ative of  importunateness  ; and  importunate- 
ness is  inconsistent  with  reverence.  Nor 
should  they  be  at  distant  intervals.  Such 
infrequency  is  indicative  of  indifference  ; and 
indifference  leads  to  forgetting  them  altogether. 

27 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


Therefore  the  superior  man,  in  harmony  with  the 
eourse  of  Nature,  offers  the  sacrifices  of  spring 
and  autumn.  When  he  treads  on  the  dew  which 
has  descended  as  hoar-frost  he  cannot  help  a 
feeling  of  sadness,  which  arises  in  his  mind,  and 
which  cannot  be  ascribed  to  the  cold.  In  spring, 
when  he  treads  on  the  ground,  wet  with  the  rains 
and  dews  that  have  fallen  heavily,  he  cannot 
avoid  being  moved  by  a feeling  as  if  he  were  seeing 
his  departed  friends.  We  meet  the  approach  of 
our  friends  with  music,  and  escort  them  away 
with  sadness,  and  hence  at  the  sacrifice  in  spring 
we  use  music,  but  not  at  the  sacrifice  in  autumn.” 

“ Sacrifice  is  not  a thing  coming  to  a man 
from  without ; it  issues  from  within  him,  and 
has  its  birth  in  his  heart.  When  the  heart  is 
deeply  moved,  expression  is  given  to  it  by  cere- 
monies ; and  hence,  only  men  of  ability  and 
virtue  can  give  complete  exhibition  to  the  idea 
of  sacrifice.”  It  was  in  this  sense  that  Con- 
fucius warned  his  followers  not  to  sacrifice  to 
spirits  which  did  not  belong  to  them,  i.e.  to  other 
than  those  of  their  own  immediate  ancestors. 
To  do  otherwise  would  raise  a suspicion  of  ulterior 
motives. 

For  the  purpose  of  ancestral  wor- 
Worship1  ship,  which  had  been  practised  from 
the  earliest  ages,  the  Emperor  had 
seven  shrines,  each  with  its  altar  representing 

28 


THE  ANCIENT  FAITH 


various  forefathers  ; and  at  all  of  these  a sac- 
rifice was  offered  every  month.  Feudal  nobles 
could  have  only  five  sets  of  these,  and  the  var- 
ious officials  three  or  fewer,  on  a descending 
scale  in  proportion  to  their  rank.  Petty  officers 
and  the  people  generally  had  no  ancestral 
shrine,  but  worshipped  the  shades  of  their  fore- 
fathers as  best  they  could  in  their  houses  and 
cottages. 

For  three  days  before  sacrificing  to  ancestors, 
a strict  vigil  and  purification  was  maintained, 
and  by  the  end  of  that  time,  from  sheer  concen- 
tration of  thought,  the  mourner  was  able  to  see 
the  spirits  of  the  departed  ; and  at  the  sacrifice 
next  day  seemed  to  hear  their  very  movements, 
and  even  the  murmur  of  their  sighs. 

The  object  of  the  ceremony  was  to  bring  down 
the  spirits  from  above,  together  with  the  shades 
of  ancestors,  and  thus  to  secure  the  blessing  of 
God  ; at  the  same  time  to  please  the  souls  of  the 
departed,  and  to  create  a link  between  the'  living 
and  the  dead. 

“ The  object  in  sacrifices  is  not  to  pray  ; the 
time  should  not  be  hastened  on  ; a great  apparatus 
is  not  required  ; ornamental  details  are  not  to 
be  approved  ; the  victims  need  not  be  fat  and 
large  ( cf . Horace,  Od.  Ill,  23  ; Immunis  aram, 
etc.)  ; a profusion  of  the  other  offerings  is 
not  to  be  admired.”  There  must,  however,  be 

29 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


no  parsimony.  A high  official,  well  able  to  afford 
better  things,  was  justly  blamed  for  having 
sacrificed  to  the  manes  of  his  father  a sucking- 
pig  which  did  not  fill  the  dish. 

“ The  various  dances  displayed  the 
nances!'3  gravity  of  the  performers,  but  did 
not  awaken  the  emotion  of  delight. 
The  ancestral  temple  produced  the  impression 
of  majesty,  but  did  not  dispose  one  to  rest  in 
it.  Its  vessels  might  be  employed,  but  could 
not  be  conveniently  used  for  any  other  pur- 
pose. The  idea  which  leads  to  intercourse 
with  spiritual  Beings  is  not  interchangeable  with 
that  which  finds  its  realisation  in  rest  and 
pleasure.” 

From  the  ceremonial  of  ancestor- 
Piiestcraft.  worspjp  thin  end  of  the  wedge  of 

priestcraft  was  rigorously  excluded.  “ For  the 
words  of  prayer  and  blessing  and  those  of  bene- 
diction to  be  kept  hidden  away  by  the  officers 
of  prayer  of  the  ancestral  temple,  and  by  the 
sorcerers  and  recorders,  is  a violation  of  the 
rules  of  propriety.  This  may  be  called  keeping 
in  a state  of  darkness.” 

Confucius  sums  up  the  value  of  sacrifices  in 
the  following  words.  “ By  their  great  sacrificial 
ceremonies  the  ancients  served  God ; by  their  cere- 
monies in  the  ancestral  temple  they  worshipped 
their  forefathers.  He  who  should  understand 


30 


THE  ANCIENT  FAITH 


the  great  sacrificial  ceremonies,  and  the  meaning 
of  the  ceremonies  in  the  ancestral  temple,  would 
find  it  as  easy  to  govern  the  empire  as  to  look 
upon  the  palm  of  his  hand.” 

Intimately  connected  with  ancestral 
Piety*  worship  is  the  practice  of  filial  piety  ; 

it  is  in  fact  on  filial  piety  that  an- 
cestral worship  is  dependent  for  its  existence. 
In  early  ages,  sons  sacrificed  to  the  manes  of 
their  parents  and  ancestors  generally,  in 
order  to  afford  some  mysterious  pleasure  to 
the  disembodied  spirits.  There  was  then  no 
idea  of  propitiation,  of  benefits  to  ensue.  In 
later  times,  the  character  of  the  sacrifice  under- 
went a change,  until  a sentiment  of  do  ut  des 
became  the  real  mainspring  of  the  ceremony. 
Meanwhile,  Confucius  had  complained  that  the 
filial  piety  of  his  day  only  meant  the  support  of 
parents.  “ But,”  argued  the  Sage,  “ we  support 
our  dogs  and  our  horses  ; without  reverence,  what 
is  there  to  distinguish  one  from  the  other  ? ” 
He  affirmed  that  children  who  would  be  accounted 
filial  should  give  their  parents  no  cause  of 
anxiety  beyond  such  anxiety  as  might  be  occa- 
sioned by  ill-health.  Filial  piety,  he  said  again, 
did  not  consist  in  relieving  the  parents  of  toil, 
or  in  setting  before  them  wine  and  food  ; it  did 
consist  in  serving  them  while  alive  according 
to  the  established  rules,  in  burying  them  when 

3i 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


dead  according  to  the  established  rules,  and  in 
sacrificing  to  them  after  death,  also  according 
to  the  established  rules.  In  another  passage 
Confucius  declared  that  filial  piety  consists  in 
carrying  on  the  aims  of  our  forefathers,  which 
really  amounts  to  serving  the  dead  as  they  would 
have  been  served  if  alive. 

Divination  seems  to  have  been 

Divination. 

practised  in  China  from  the  earliest 
ages.  The  implements  used  were  the  shell 
of  the  tortoise,  spiritualised  by  the  long  life 
of  its  occupant,  and  the  stalks  of  a kind  of 
grass,  to  which  also  spiritual  powers  had  for 
some  reason  or  other  been  attributed.  These 
were  the  methods,  we  are  told,  by  which  the 
ancient  Kings  made  the  people  revere  spirits, 
obey  the  law,  and  settle  all  their  doubts.  God 
gave  these  spiritual  boons  to  mankind,  and  the 
sages  took  advantage  of  them.  “ To  explore 
what  is  complex,  to  search  out  what  is  hidden, 
to  hook  up  what  lies  deep,  and  to  reach  to  what 
is  distant,  thereby  determining  the  issues  for 
good  or  ill  of  all  events  under  the  sky,  and  making 
all  men  full  of  strenuous  endeavour,  there  are 
no  agencies  greater  than  those  of  the  stalks  and 
the  tortoise  shell.” 

In  B.c.  2224,  when  the  Emperor  Shun  wished 
to  associate  the  Great  Yii  with  him  in  the  govern- 
ment, the  latter  begged  that  recourse  might  be 

32 


THE  ANCIENT  FAITH 


had  to  divination,  in  order  to  discover  the  most 
suitable  among  the  Ministers  for  this  exalted 
position.  The  Emperor  refused,  saying  that 
his  choice  had  already  been  confirmed  by  the 
body  of  Ministers.  “ The  spirits  too  have 
signified  their  assent,  the  tortoise  and  grass 
having  both  concurred.  Divination,  when  for- 
tunate, may  not  be  repeated.” 

Sincerity,  on  which  Confucius  lays  such  especial 
stress,  is  closely  associated  with  success  in  divina- 
tion. “ Sincerity  is  of  God ; cultivation  of 
sincerity  is  of  man.  He  who  is  naturally  sincere 
is  he  who  hits  his  mark  without  effort,  and  with- 
out thinking  apprehends.  He  easily  keeps  to  the 
golden  mean  ; he  is  inspired.  He  who  cultivates 
sincerity  is  he  who  chooses  what  is  good  and 
holds  fast  to  it. 

“ It  is  characteristic  of  the  most  entire  sincerity 
to  be  able  to  foreknow.  When  a State  or  a 
family  is  about  to  flourish,  there  are  sure  to  be 
happy  omens  ; and  when  it  is  about  to  perish, 
there  are  sure  to  be  unpropitious  omens.  The 
events  portended  are  set  forth  by  the  divining- 
grass  and  the  tortoise.  When  calamity  or  good 
fortune  may  be  about  to  come,  the  evil  or  the 
good  will  be  foreknown  by  the  perfectly  sincere 
man,  who  may  therefore  be  compared  with  a 
spirit.” 

The  tortoise  and  the  grass  have  long  since 
33  c 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 

disappeared  as  instruments  of  divination,  which 
is  now  carried  on  by  means  of  lots  drawn  from  a 
vase,  with  answers  attached ; by  planchette  ; 
and  by  the  chiao.  The  last  consists  of  two  pieces 
of  wood,  anciently  of  stone,  in  the  shape  of  the 
two  halves  of  a kidney  bean.  These  are  thrown 
into  the  air  before  the  altar  in  a temple, — Buddhist 
or  Taoist,  it  matters  nothing, — with  the  following 
results.  Two  convex  sides  uppermost  mean  a 
response  indifferently  good  ; two  flat  sides  mean 
negative  and  bad  ; one  convex  and  one  flat  side 
mean  that  the  prayer  will  be  granted.  This 
form  of  divination,  though  widely  practised  at 
the  present  day,  is  by  no  means  of  recent  date. 
It  was  common  in  the  Ch’u  State,  which  was 
destroyed  b.c.  300,  after  four  hundred  and 
twenty  years  of  existence. 

II. — Confucianism 

Under  the  influence  of  Confucius, 
Confudus°f  B C-  551-479,  the  old  order  of  things 
began  to  imdergo  a change.  The 
Sage’s  attitude  of  mind  towards  religion  was 
one  of  a benevolent  agnosticism,  as  summed  up 
in  his  famous  utterance,  “ Respect  the  spirits, 
but  keep  them  at  a distance.”  That  he  fully 
recognised  the  existence  of  a spirit  world, 
though  admitting  that  he  knew  nothing  about 
34 


CONFUCIANISM 

it,  is  manifest  from  the  following  remarks  of 
his  : — 

“ How  abundantly  do  spiritual  beings  display 
the  powers  that  belong  to  them  ! We  look  for, 
but  do  not  see  them  ; we  listen  for,  but  do  not 
hear  them  ; yet  they  enter  into  all  things,  and 
there  is  nothing  without  them.  They  cause  all 
the  people  in  the  empire  to  fast  and  purify 
themselves,  and  array  themselves  in  their  richest 
dresses,  in  order  to  attend  at  their  sacrifices. 
Then,  like  overflowing  water,  they  seem  to  be  over 
the  heads,  and  on  the  right  and  left,  of  their 
worshippers.” 

He  believed  that  he  himself  was,  at  any  rate 
to  some  extent,  a prophet  of  God,  as  witness  his 
remarks  when  in  danger  from  the  people  of 
K’uang  : — 

“ After  the  death  of  King  Wen,  was  not  wisdom 
lodged  in  me  ? If  God  were  to  destroy  this 
wisdom,  future  generations  could  not  possess  it. 
So  long  as  God  does  not  destroy  this  wisdom, 
what  can  the  people  of  K’uang  do  to  me  ? ” 

Again,  when  Confucius  cried,  “ Alas  ! there  is 
no  one  that  knows  me,” -.and  a disciple  asked  what 
was  meant,  he  replied,  “ I do  not  murmur  against 
God.  I do  not  grumble  against  man.  My 
studies  lie  low,  and  my  penetration  lies  high. 
But  there  is  God  ; He  knows  me.” 

We  know  that  Confucius  fasted,  and  we  know 
35 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 

that  “ he  sacrificed  to  the  spirits  as  though  the 
spirits  were  present ; ” it  is  even  stated  that 
“ when  a friend  sent  him  a present,  though  it 
might  be  a carriage  and  horses,  unless  it  were 
flesh  which  had  been  used  in  sacrifice,  he  did  not 
bow.”  He  declared  that  for  a person  in  mourning 
food  and  music  were  without  flavour  and  charm  ; 
and  whenever  he  saw  any  one  approaching  who 
was  in  mourning  dress,  even  though  younger 
than  himself,  he  would  immediately  rise  from  his 
seat.  He  believed  in  destiny  ; he  was  super- 
stitious, changing  colour  at  a squall  or  at  a clap 
of  thunder ; and  he  even  countenanced  the 
ceremonies  performed  by  villagers  when  driving 
out  evil  spirits  from  their  dwellings.  He  pro- 
tested against  any  attempt  to  impose  on  God. 
He  said  that  “ he  who  offends  against  God  has 
none  to  whom  he  can  pray ; ” and  when  in  an  hour 
of  sickness  a disciple  asked  to  be  allowed  to  pray 
for  him,  he  replied,  “ My  praying  has  been  for  a 
long  time.”  Yet  he  declined  to  speak  to  his 
disciples  of  God,  of  spiritual  beings  or  even  of 
death  and  a hereafter,  holding  that  life  and  its 
problems  were  alone  sufficient  to  tax  the  energies 
of  the  human  race.  While  not  altogether  ignoring 
man’s  duty  towards  God,  he  subordinated  it  in 
every  way  to  man’s  duty  towards  his  neighbour. 
He  also  did  much  towards  weakening  the  per- 
sonality of  God,  for  whom  he  invariably  used 

36 


CONFUCIANISM 


T'ien,  never  Shang  Ti,  regarding  Him  evidently 
more  as  an  abstraction  than  as  a living  sentient 
Being,  with  the  physical  attributes  of  man. 
Confucianism  is  therefore  entirely  a system  of 
morality,  and  not  a religion. 

It  is  also  a curious  fact  that  throughout  the 
Spring  and  Autumn,  or  Annals  of  the  State  of 
Lu,  which  extend  from  B.c.  722  to  b.c.  484, 
there  is  no  allusion  of  any  kind  to  the  inter- 
position of  God  in  human  affairs,  although  a 
variety  of  natural  phenomena  are  recorded,  such 
as  have  always  been  regarded  by  primitive 
peoples  as  the  direct  acts  of  an  angered  or  benevo- 
lent Deity.  Lu  was  the  State  in  which  Confucius 
was  born,  and  its  annals  were  compiled  by  the 
Sage  himself  ; and  throughout  these  Annals  the 
term  God  is  never  used  except  in  connection 
with  the  word  “King,”  where  it  always  has 
the  sense  of  “by  the  grace  of  God,”  and  once 
where  the  suzerain  is  spoken  of  as  “ the  Son  of 
God,”  or,  as  we  usually  phrase  it,  “ the  Son  of 
Heaven.” 

In  the  famous  Commentary  by 
bring  nun  Tso-ch’iu  Ming  on  the  Spring  and 
Autumn,  which  imparts  a human  in- 
terest to  the  bald  entries  set  against  each 
year  of  these  annals,  there  are  several  al- 
lusions to  the  Supreme  Being.  For  instance,  at 
a time  of  great  drought  the  Duke  of  Lu  wished, 

37 


RELIGIONS  OE  ANCIENT  CHINA 


in  accordance  with  custom,  to  burn  a witch  and 
a person  in  the  last  stage  of  consumption  ; the 
latter  being  sometimes  exposed  in  the  sun  so  as 
to  excite  the  compassion  of  God,  who  would  then 
cause  rain  to  fall.  A Minister  vigorously  pro- 
tested against  this  superstition,  pointing  out 
that  the  proper  way  to  meet  a drought  would  be 
to  reduce  the  quantity  of  food  consumed,  and  to 
practise  rigid  economy  in  all  things.  “ What 
have  these  creatures  to  do  with  the  matter  ? ” 
he  asked.  “ If  God  had  wished  to  put  them  to 
death,  He  had  better  not  have  given  them  life. 
If  they  can  really  produce  drought,  to  burn  them 
will  only  increase  the  calamity.”  The  Duke 
accordingly  desisted  ; and  although  there  was  a 
famine,  it  is  said  to  have  been  less  severe  than 
usual. 

In  b.c.  523  there  was  a comet.  A Minister 
said,  “ This  broom-star  sweeps  away  the  old,  and 
brings  in  the  new.  The  doings  of  God  are  con- 
stantly attended  by  such  appearances.” 

Under  b.c.  532  we  have  the  record  of  a stone 
speaking.  The  Marquis  of  Lu  enquired  of  his 
chief  musician  if  this  was  a fact,  and  received 
the  following  answer  : “ Stones  cannot  speak. 

Perhaps  this  one  was  possessed  by  a spirit.  If 
not,  the  people  must  have  heard  wrong.  And 
yet  it  is  said  that  when  things  are  done  out  of 
season,  and  discontents  and  complaints  are 

38 


CONFUCIANISM 


stirring  among  the  people,  then  speechless  things 
do  speak.” 

Human  sacrifices  appear  to  have 
Sacrifices,  been  not  altogether  unknown.  The 
Commentary  tells  us  that  in  b.c. 
637,  in  consequence  of  failure  to  appear  and 
enter  into  a covenant,  the  Viscount  of  Tseng 
was  immolated  by  the  people  of  the  Chu 
State,  to  appease  the  wild  tribes  of  the  east. 
The  Minister  of  War  protested  : “ In  ancient 

times  the  six  domestic  animals  were  not  offered 
promiscuously  in  sacrifice  ; and  for  small  matters, 
the  regular  sacrificial  animals  were  not  used. 
How  then  should  we  dare  to  offer  up  a man  ? 
Sacrifices  are  performed  for  the  benefit  of 
men,  who  thus  as  it  were  entertain  the  spirits. 
But  if  men  sacrifice  men,  who  will  enjoy  the 
offering  ? ” 

Again,  in  b.c.  529,  the  ruler  of  the  Ch’u  State 
destroyed  the  Ts’ai  State,  and  offered  up  the 
heir  apparent  as  a victim.  An  officer  said, 
“ This  is  inauspicious.  If  the  five  sacrificial 
animals  may  not  be  used  promiscuously,  how 
much  less  can  a feudal  prince  be  offered  up  ? ” 

The  custom  of  burying  living  persons  with  the 
dead  was  first  practised  in  China  in  b.c.  580. 
It  was  said  to  have  been  suggested  by  an  earlier 
and  more  harmless  custom  of  placing  straw  and 
wooden  effigies  in  the  mausolea  of  the  great. 

39 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


When  the  “ First  Emperor  ” died  in  b.c.  210,  all 
those  among  his  wives  who  had  borne  no  children 
were  buried  alive  with  him. 

From  another  Commentary  on  the 
for^Rafn  Spring  and  Autumn,  by  Ku-liang 
Shu,  fourth  century  b.c.,  we  have  the 
following  note  on  Prayers  for  Rain,  which  are 
still  offered  up  on  occasions  of  drought,  but  now 
generally  through  the  medium  of  Taoist  and 
Buddhist  priests  : — 

“ Prayers  for  rain  should  be  offered  up  in 
spring  and  summer  only  ; not  in  autumn  and 
winter.  Why  not  in  autumn  and  winter  ? 
Because  the  moisture  of  growing  things  is  not 
then  exhausted  ; neither  has  man  reached  the 
limit  of  his  skill.  Why  in  spring  and  summer  ? 
Because  time  is  then  pressing  and  man’s  skill  is 
of  no  further  avail.  How  so  ? Because  without 
rain  just  then  nothing  could  be  made  to  grow  ; 
the  crops  would  fail,  and  famine  ensue.  But 
why  wait  until  time  is  pressing,  and  man’s  skill 
of  no  further  avail  ? Because  to  pray  for  rain  is 
the  same  thing  as  asking  a favour,  and  the  ancients 
did  not  lightly  ask  favours.  Why  so  ? Because 
they  held  it  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive  ; 
and  as  the  latter  excludes  the  former,  the  main 
object  of  man’s  life  is  taken  away.  How  is  praying 
for  rain  asking  a favour  ? It  is  a request  that 
God  will  do  something  for  us.  The  divine  men 

40 


CONFUCIANISM 


of  old  who  had  any  request  to  make  to  God  were 
careful  to  prefer  it  in  due  season.  At  the  head 
of  all  his  high  officers  of  State,  the  prince  would 
proceed  in  person  to  offer  up  his  prayer.  He  could 
not  ask  any  one  else  to  go  as  his  proxy.” 
Posthumous  Before  leaving  Confucius,  it  is  neces- 
Honours  saly  to  add  that  now  for  many 
Confucius,  centuries  he  has  been  the  central 
figure  and  object  of  a cult  as  sincere  as  ever 
offered  by  man  to  any  being,  human  or  divine. 
The  ruler  of  Confucius’  native  State  of  Lu  was 
profoundly  distressed  by  the  Sage’s  death, 
and  is  said  to  have  built  a shrine  to  commem- 
orate his  great  worth,  at  which  sacrifices  were 
offered  at  the  four  seasons.  By  the  time  however 
that  the  Chou  dynasty  was  drawing  to  its  close 
(third  century  b.c.),  it  would  be  safe  to  say  that, 
owing  to  civil  war  and  the  great  political  upheaval 
generally,  the  worship  of  Confucius  was  alto- 
gether discontinued.  It  certainly  did  not  flourish 
under  the  “ First  Emperor  ” (see  post),  and  was 
only  revived  in  b.c.  195  by  the  first  Emperor  of 
the  Han  dynasty,  who  visited  the  grave  of 
Confucius  in  Shantung  and  sacrificed  to  his  spirit 
a pig,  a sheep,  and  an  ox.  Fifty  years  later  a 
temple  was  built  to  Confucius  at  his  native  place  ; 
and  in  a.d.  72  his  seventy- two  disciples  were 
admitted  to  share  in  the  worship,  music  being 
shortly  afterwards  added  to  the  ceremonial. 

41 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


Gradually,  the  people  came  to  look  upon  Confucius 
as  a god,  and  women  used  to  pray  to  him  for 
children,  until  the  practice  was  stopped  by 
Edict  in  a.d.  472.  In  505,  which  some  consider 
to  be  the  date  of  the  first  genuine  Confucian 
Temple,  wooden  images  of  the  Sage  were  intro- 
duced ; in  1530  these  were  abolished,  and  inscribed 
tablets  of  wood,  in  use  at  the  present  day,  were 
substituted.  In  555  temples  were  placed  in  all 
prefectural  cities  ; and  later  on,  in  all  the  im- 
portant cities  and  towns  of  the  empire.  In 
the  second  and  eighth  months  of  each  year,  before 
dawn,  sacrifices  to  Confucius  are  still  celebrated 
with  considerable  solemnity  and  pomp,  including 
music  and  dances  by  bands  of  either  thirty-six  or 
sixty-four  performers. 

Mencius  and  Mencius>  who  lived  B-c-  372-289, 
Confucian-  and  devoted  himself  to  the  task  of 
spreading  and  consolidating  the  Con- 
fucian teachings,  made  no  attempt  to  lead 
back  the  Chinese  people  towards  their  early 
beliefs  in  a personal  God  and  in  a spiritual  world 
beyond  the  ken  of  mortals.  He  observes  in  a 
general  way  that  “ those  who  obey  God  are 
saved,  while  those  who  rebel  against  Him  perish,” 
but  his  reference  is  to  this  life,  and  not  to  a 
future  one.  He  also  says  that  those  whom  God 
destines  for  some  great  part,  He  first  chastens 
by  suffering  and  toil.  But  perhaps  his  most 

42 


CONFUCIANISM 

original  contribution  will  be  found  in  the  following 
paragraph  : — 

“ By  exerting  his  mental  powers  to  the  full, 
man  comes  to  understand  his  own  nature.  When 
he  understands  his  own  nature,  he  understands 
God.'’ 

In  all  the  above  instances  the  term  used  for 
God  is  T'ien.  Only  in  one  single  passage  does 
Mencius  use  Bhang  Ti  : — “ Though  a man  be 
wicked,  if  he  duly  prepares  himself  by  fasting 
and  abstinence  and  purification  by  water,  he  may 
sacrifice  to  God.” 

The  statesman-poet  Ch’ii  Yuan,  b.c. 
Yuan  332-295,  who  drowned  himself  in  de- 
spair at  his  country’s  outlook,  and 
whose  body  is  still  searched  for  annually  at 
the  Dragon-Boat  festival,  frequently  alludes  to 
a Supreme  Being  : — 

Almighty  God,  Thou  who  art  impartial, 

And  dost  appoint  the  virtuous  among  men  as  Thy 
Assistants. 

One  of  his  poems  is  entitled  “ God  Questions,” 
and  consists  of  a number  of  questions  on  various 
mysteries  in  the  universe.  The  meaning  of  the 
title  would  be  better  expressed  by  “ Questions 
put  to  God,”  but  we  are  told  that  such  a phrase 
was  impossible  on  account  of  the  holiness  of  God 
and  the  irreverence  of  questioning  Him.  One 

43 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


question  was,  “ Who  has  handed  down  to  us  an 
account  of  the  beginning  of  all  things,  and  how 
do  we  know  anything  about  the  time  when 
heaven  and  earth  were  without  form  ? ” An- 
other question  was,  “ As  Nii-ch’i  had  no  husband, 
how  could  she  bear  nine  sons  ? ” The  Com- 
mentary tells  us  that  Nii-ch’i  was  <£  a divine 
maiden,”  but  nothing  more  seems  to  be  known 
about  her. 

The  following  prose  passage  is  taken  from 
Ch’ii  Yuan’s  biography  : — 

“ Man  came  originally  from  God,  just  as  the 
individual  comes  from  his  parents.  When  his 
span  is  at  an  end,  he  goes  back  to  that  from 
which  he  sprang.  Thus  it  is  that  in  the  hour  of 
bitter  trial  and  exhaustion,  there  is  no  man  but 
calls  to  God,  just  as  in  his  hours  of  sickness 
and  sorrow  every  one  of  us  will  turn  to  his 
parents.” 

The  great  sacrifices  to  God  and  to  Earth,  as 
performed  by  the  early  rulers  of  China,  had 
been  traditionally  associated  with  Mount  T’ai,  in 
the  modern  province  of  Shantung,  one  of  China’s 
five  sacred  mountains.  Accordingly,  in  b.c.  219, 
the  self-styled  “ First  Emperor,”  desirous  of 
restoring  the  old  custom,  which  had  already 
fallen  into  desuetude,  proceeded  to  the  summit 
of  Mount  T’ai,  where  he  is  said  to  have  carried 
out  his  purpose,  though  what  actually  took  place 

44 


CONFUCIANISM 


was  always  kept  a profound  secret.  The  literati, 
however,  whom  the  First  Emperor  had  persecuted 
by  forbidding  any  further  study  of  the  Confucian 
Canon,  and  burning  all  the  copies  he  could  lay 
hands  on,  gave  out  that  he  had  been  prevented 
from  performing  the  sacrifices  by  a violent  storm 
of  rain,  alleging  as  a reason  that  he  was  altogether 
deficient  in  the  virtue  requisite  for  such  a cere- 
mony. 

It  may  be  added  that  in  b.c.  110  the  then 
reigning  Emperor  proceeded  to  the  summit  of 
Mount  T’ai,  and  performed  the  great  sacrifice  to 
God,  following  this  up  by  sacrificing  to  Earth  on  a 
hill  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain.  At  the  ceremony 
he  was  dressed  in  yellow  robes,  and  was  accom- 
panied by  music.  During  the  night  there  was 
light,  and  a white  cloud  hung  over  the  altar. 
The  Emperor  himself  declared  that  he  saw  a 
dazzling  glory,  and  heard  a voice  speaking  to 
him.  The  truthful  historian — the  Herodotus 
of  China — who  has  left  an  account  of  these 
proceedings,  accompanied  the  Emperor  on  this 
and  other  occasions  ; he  was  also  present  at 
the  sacrifices  offered  before  the  departure  of  the 
mission,  and  has  left  it  on  record  that  he  himself 
actually  heard  the  voices  of  spirits. 


45 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


III. — Taoism 

Meanwhile,  other  influences  had  been 
helping  to  divert  the  attention  of  the 
Chinese  people  from  the  simple  worship  of  God 
and  of  the  powers  of  nature.  The  philosophy 
associated  with  the  name  of  Lao  Tzu,  who  lived 
nobody  knows  when, — probably  about  b.c.  600 — 
which  is  popularly  known  as  Taoism,  from  Tao, 
the  omnipresent,  omnipotent,  and  unthinkable 
principle  on  which  it  is  based,  operated  with 
Confucianism,  though  in  an  opposite  direction, 
indislimning  the  old  faith  while  putting  nothing 
satisfactory  in  its  place.  Confucianism,  with 
its  shadowy  monotheistic  background,  was  at 
any  rate  a practical  system  for  everyday  use, 
and  it  may  be  said  to  contain  all  the  great  ethical 
truths  to  be  found  in  the  teachings  of  Christ.  Lao 
Tzu  harped  upon  a doctrine  of  Inaction,  by  virtue 
of  which  all  things  were  to  be  accomplished, — 
a perpetual  accommodation  of  self  to  one’s 
surroundings,  with  the  minimum  of  effort,  all 
progress  being  spontaneous  and  in  the  line  of 
least  resistance.  Such  a system  was  naturally 
far  better  fitted  for  the  study,  where  in  fact 
it  has  always  remained,  than  for  use  in  ordinary 
life. 

In  one  of  the  few  genuine  utterances  of  Lao 
46 


TAOISM 


Tzu  which  have  survived  the  wreck  of  time,  we 
find  an  allusion  to  a spiritual  world.  Unfortun- 
ately, it  is  impossible  to  say  exactly  what  the 
passage  means.  According  to  Han  Fei  {died 
b.c.  233),  who  wrote  several  chapters  to  elucidate 
the  sayings  of  Lao  Tzu,  the  following  is  the 
correct  interpretation  : — 

“ Govern  a great  nation  as  you  would  cook  a 
small  fish  (i.e.  do  not  overdo  it). 

“ If  the  empire  is  governed  according  to  Tao, 
evil  spirits  will  not  be  worshipped  as  good 
ones. 

“ If  evil  spirits  are  not  worshipped  as  good 
ones,  good  ones  will  do  no  injury.  Neither  will 
the  Sages  injure  the  people.  Each  will  not 
injure  the  other.  And  if  neither  injures  the 
other,  then  there  will  be  mutual  profit.” 

The  latter  portion  is  explained  by  another  com- 
mentator as  follows  : — 

“ Spirits  do  not  hurt  the  natural.  If  people 
are  natural,  spirits  have  no  means  of  manifesting 
themselves ; and  if  spirits  do  not  manifest 
themselves,  we  are  not  conscious  of  their  existence 
as  such.  Likewise,  if  we  are  not  conscious  of 
the  existence  of  spirits  as  such,  we  must  be 
equally  unconscious  of  the  existence  of  inspired 
teachers  as  such  ; and  to  be  unconscious  of  the 
existence  of  spirits  and  of  inspired  teachers 
is  the  very  essence  of  Tao.” 

47 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


Adumbra-  ^he  hands  of  Lao  Tzu’s  more 

tions  of  immediate  followers,  Tao  became  the 
Heracleitus.  Absolute,  the  First  Cause,  and  finally 

One  in  whose  obliterating  unity  all  seem- 
ingly opposed  conditions  of  time  and  space 
were  indistinguishably  blended.  This  One,  the 
source  of  human  life,  was  placed  beyond  the 
limits  of  our  visible  universe ; and  in  order 
for  human  life  to  return  thither  at  death  and  to 
enjoy  immortality,  it  was  only  necessary  to 
refine  away  corporeal  grossness  according  to  the 
doctrines  of  Lao  Tzu.  Later  on,  this  One  came 
to  be  regarded  as  a fixed  point  of  dazzling  lumin- 
osity, in  remote  ether,  around  which  circled  for 
ever  and  ever,  in  the  supremest  glory  of  motion, 
the  souls  of  those  who  had  successfully  passed 
through  the  ordeal  of  life,  and  who  had  left  the 
slough  of  humanity  behind  them. 

The  final  state  is  best  described  by  a poet  of 
the  ninth  century  a.d.  : — 


Like  a whirling  water-wheel, 

Like  rolling  pearls, — 

Yet  how  are  these  worthy  to  be  named  ? 
They  are  but  illustrations  for  fools. 

There  is  the  mighty  axis  of  Earth, 

The  never-resting  pole  of  Heaven  ; 

Let  us  grasp  their  clue, 

And  with  them  be  blended  in  One, 
Beyond  the  boimds  of  thought, 

Circling  for  ever  in  the  great  Void, 

48 


TAOISM 


An  orbit  of  a thousand  years, — 
Yes,  this  is  the  key  to  my  theme. 


Debased 


This  view  naturally  suggested  the 
Taoism  prolongation  of  earthly  life  by  artifi- 
cial means ; hence  the  search  for 
an  elixir,  carried  on  through  many  centuries 
by  degenerate  disciples  of  Taoism.  But  here 
we  must  pass  on  to  consider  some  of  the 
speculations  on  God,  life,  death,  and  immor- 
tality, indulged  in  by  Taoist  philosophers  and 
others,  who  were  not  fettered,  as  the  Confucian- 
ists  were,  by  traditional  reticence  on  the  subject 
of  spirits  and  an  unseen  universe. 

Mo  Tzu,  a,  philosopher  of  the  fourth 
and  fifth  centuries  b.c.,  was  arguing 
one  day  for  the  existence  of  spirits 
with  a disbelieving  opponent.  “ All  you  have 
to  do,”  he  said,  “ is  to  go  into  any  village  and 
make  enquiries.  From  of  old  until  now  the 
people  have  constantly  seen  and  heard  spiritual 
beings  ; how  then  can  you  say  they  do  not 
exist  \ If  they  had  never  seen  nor  heard 
them,  could  people  say  that  they  existed  \ ” 
“ Of  course,”  replied  the  disbeliever,  “ many 
people  have  seen  and  heard  spirits  ; but  is  there 
any  instance  of  a properly  verified  appearance  \ ” 
Mo  Tzu  then  told  a long  story  of  how  King  Hsiian, 
B.c.  827-781,  unjustly  put  to  death  a Minister, 

49  D 


Spirits 

must 

exist. 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


and  how  the  latter  had  said  to  the  Kong,  “ If 
there  is  no  consciousness  after  death,  this  matter 
will  be  at  an  end  ; but  if  there  is,  then  within 
three  years  you  will  hear  from  me.”  Three  years 
later,  at  a grand  durbar,  the  Minister  descended 
from  heaven  on  a white  horse,  and  shot  the  King 
dead  before  the  eyes  of  all. 

Chuang  Tzu,  the  famous  philosopher 
Mysticism  ^he  third  and  fourth  centuries 
b.c.,  and  exponent  of  the  Tao  of 
Lao  Tzu,  has  the  following  allusions  to  God,  of 
course  as  seen  through  Taoist  glasses  : — 

“ God  is  a principle  which  exists  by  virtue  of 
its  own  intrinsicality,  and  operates  spontaneous^7 
without  self-manifestation. 

“ He  who  knows  what  God  is,  and  what  Man 
is,  has  attained.  Knowing  what  God  is,  he  knows 
that  he  himself  proceeded  therefrom.  Knowing 
what  Man  is,  he  rests  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
known,  waiting  for  the  knowledge  of  the  un- 
known. 

“ The  ultimate  end  is  God.  He  is  manifested 
in  the  laws  of  nature.  He  is  the  hidden  spring. 
At  the  beginning  of  all  things,  He  was.” 

Taoism,  however,  does  not  seem  to  have  suc- 
ceeded altogether,  any  more  than  Confucianism,  in 
altogether  estranging  the  Chinese  people  from  their 
traditions  of  a God,  more  or  less  personal,  whose 
power  was  the  real  determining  factor  in  human 

50 


MATERIALISM 


events.  The  great  general  Hsiang  Yii,  b.c. 
233-202,  said  to  his  charioteer  at  the  battle  which 
proved  fatal  to  his  fortunes,  “ I have  fought 
no  fewer  than  seventy  fights,  and  have  gained 
dominion  over  the  empire.  That  I am  now 
brought  to  this  pass  is  because  God  has  deserted 
me.” 


TV. — Materialism 


Yang 

Hsiung. 


Yang  Hsiung  was  a philosopher 
who  flourished  B.c.  53-a.d.  18.  He 
taught  that  the  nature  of  man  at  birth  is 
neither  good  nor  evil,  but  a mixture  of  both, 
and  that  development  in  either  direction  de- 
pends wholly  upon  environment.  To  one 
who  asked  about  God,  he  replied,  “ What  have 
I to  do  with  God  ? Watch  how  without  do- 
ing anything  He  does  all  things.”  To  another 
who  said,  “ Surely  it  is  God  who  fashions  and 
adorns  all  earthly  forms,”  he  replied,  “ Not  so  ; 
if  God  in  an  earthly  sense  were  to  fashion  and 
adorn  all  things,  His  strength  would  not  be  ade- 
quate to  the  task.” 

Wang  Ch’ung,  a.d.  27-97,  denies 
CiEung.  that  men  after  death  live  again  as 
spiritual  beings  on  earth.  “ Animals,” 
he  argues,  “ do  not  become  spirits  after  death  ; 
why  should  man  alone  undergo  this  change  ? 

5t 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


. . . . That  which  informs  man  at  birth 
is  vitality,  and  at  death  this  vitality  is  ex- 
tinguished. Vitality  is  produced  by  the  pulsa- 
tions of  the  blood  ; when  these  cease,  vitality 
is  extinguished,  the  body  decays,  and  becomes 
dust.  How  can  it  become  a spirit  ? . . . 
When  a man  dies,  his  soul  ascends  to  heaven, 
and  his  bones  return  (Jcuei)  to  earth  ; therefore 
he  is  spoken  of  as  a disembodied  spirit  ( Jcuei ),  the 
latter  word  really  meaning  that  which  has  re- 
turned. . . . Vitality  becomes  humanity,  just 
as  water  becomes  ice.  The  ice  melts  and  is 
water  again  ; man  dies  and  reverts  to  spirituality. 

. . . The  spirits  which  people  see  are  invari- 
ably in  the  form  of  human  beings,  and  that  very 
fact  is  enough  of  itself  to  prove  that  these  appari- 
tions cannot  be  the  souls  of  dead  men.  If  a 
sack  is  filled  with  grain,  it  will  stand  up,  and  is 
obviously  a sack  of  grain  ; but  if  the  sack  is  burst 
and  the  grain  falls  out,  then  it  collapses  and  dis- 
appears from  view.  Now,  man’s  soul  is  enfolded 
in  his  body  as  grain  in  a sack.  When  he  dies, 
his  body  decays  and  his  vitality  is  dissipated  ; 
and  if  when  the  grain  is  taken  away  the  sack  loses 
its  form,  why,  when  the  vitality  is  gone,  should  the 
body  obtain  a new  shape  in  which  to  appear  again 
in  the  world  ? . . . The  number  of  persons 
who  have  died  since  the  world  began,  old,  middle- 
aged,  and  young,  must  run  into  thousands  of 

52 


MATERIALISM 


millions,  far  exceeding  the  number  of  persons 
alive  at  the  present  day.  If  every  one  of  these 
has  become  a disembodied  spirit,  there  must 
be  at  least  one  to  every  yard  as  we  walk  along  the 
road ; and  those  who  die  now  must  suddenly 
find  themselves  face  to  face  with  vast  crowds  of 
spirits,  filling  every  house  and  street.  . . . 
People  say  that  spirits  are  the  souls  of  dead  men. 
That  being  the  case,  spirits  should  always  appear 
naked,  for  surely  it  is  not  contended  that  clothes 
have  souls  as  well  as  men.  ...  It  can  further 
be  shown  not  only  that  dead  men  never  become 
spirits,  but  also  that  they  are  without  conscious- 
ness, by  the  fact  that  before  birth  they  are  without 
consciousness.  Before  birth  man  rests  in  the  First 
Cause ; when  he  dies  he  goes  back  to  the  First 
Cause.  The  First  Cause  is  vague  and  without  form, 
and  man’s  soul  is  there  in  a state  of  unconscious- 
ness. At  death  the  soul  reverts  to  its  original  state ; 
how  then  can  it  possess  consciousness  ? . . . . 
As  a matter  of  fact,  the  universe  is  full  of  dis- 
embodied spirits,  but  these  are  not  the  souls  of 
dead  men.  They  are  beings  only  of  the  mind, 
conjured  up  for  the  most  part  in  sickness,  when 
the  patient  is  especially  subject  to  fear.  For 
sickness  induces  fear  of  spirits  ; fear  of  spirits 
causes  the  mind  to  dwell  upon  them  ; and  thus 
apparitions  are  produced.” 

Another  writer  enlarges  on  the  view  that 

53 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


kuei  “ disembodied  spirit  ” is  the  same  as  kuei 
“ to  return.”  “ At  death,  man’s  soul  returns  to 
heaven,  his  flesh  to  earth,  his  blood  to  water,  his 
blood-vessels  to  marshes,  his  voice  to  thunder, 
his  motion  to  the  wind,  his  sleep  to  the  sun  and 
moon,  his  bones  to  trees,  his  muscles  to  hills,  his 
teeth  to  stones,  his  fat  to  dew,  his  hair  to  grass, 
while  his  breath  returns  to  man.” 

There  was  a certain  philosopher, 
oM5od^eS  named  Ch’in  Mi  {died  a.d.  226),  whose 
services  were  much  required  by  the 
King  of  Wu,  who  sent  an  envoy  to  fetch  him. 
The  envoy  took  upon  himself  to  catechise  the 
philosopher,  with  the  following  result : — 

“You  are  engaged  in  study,  are  you  not  ? ” 
asked  the  envoy. 

“ Any  slip  of  a boy  may  be  that,”  replied 
Ch’in  ; “ why  not  I ? ” 

“ Has  God  a head  1 ” said  the  envoy. 

“ He  has,”  was  the  reply. 

“ Where  is  He  ? ” was  the  next  question. 

“ In  the  West.  The  Odes  say, 

He  gazed  fondly  on  the  West. 

From  which  it  is  to  be  inferred  that  his  head  was 
in  the  West.” 

“ Has  God  got  ears  ? ” 

“ God  sits  on  high,”  replied  Ch’in,  “ but  hears 
the  lowly.  The  Odes  say, 

54 


MATERIALISM 


The  crane  cries  in  the  marsh, 

And  its  cry  is  heard  by  God. 

If  He  had  not  ears,  how  could  He  hear  it  ? ” 

“ Has  God  feet  1 ” asked  the  envoy. 

“ He  has,”  replied  Ch’in.  “ The  Odes  say, 

The  steps  of  God  are  difficult ; 

This  man  does  not  follow  them. 

If  He  had  no  feet,  how  could  He  step  ? ” 

“ Has  God  a surname  ? ” enquired  the  envoy. 
“ And  if  so,  what  is  it  ? ” 

“ He  has  a surname,”  said  Ch’in,  “ and  it  is 
Liu.” 

“ How  do  you  know  that  ? ” rejoined  the 
other. 

“ The  surname  of  the  Emperor,  who  is  the  Son 
of  Heaven,  is  Liu,”  replied  Ch’in  ; ‘‘  and  that  is 
how  I know  it.” 

These  answers,  we  are  told,  came  as  quickly  as 
echo  after  sound.  A writer  of  the  ninth  century 
a.d.,  when  reverence  for  the  one  God  of  ancient 
China  had  been  to  a great  extent  weakened 
by  the  multiplication  of  inferior  deities,  tells 
a story  how  this  God,  whose  name  was  Liu,  had 
been  displaced  by  another  God  whose  name  was 
Chang. 

The  Hsing  ying  tsa  lu  has  the  following  story. 
There  was  once  a very  poor  scholar,  who  made  it 

55 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


his  nightly  practice  to  burn  incense  and  pray  to 
God.  One  evening  he  heard  a voice  from  above, 
saying,  “ God  has  been  touched  by  your  earnest- 
ness, and  has  sent  me  to  ask  what  you  require.” 
“ I wish,”  replied  the  scholar,  “ for  clothes  and 
food,  coarse  if  you  will,  sufficient  for  my  neces- 
sities in  this  life,  and  to  be  able  to  roam,  free  from 
care,  among  the  mountains  and  streams,  until  I 
complete  my  allotted  span  ; that  is  all.”  “ All ! ” 
cried  the  voice,  amid  peals  of  laughter  from  the 
clouds.  “ Why,  that  is  the  happiness  enjoyed  by 
the  spirits  in  heaven  ; you  can’t  have  that.  Ask 
rather  for  wealth  and  rank.” 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  the 
Good  and  Chinese  imagination  has  never  con- 
ceived of  an  Evil  One,  deliverance 
from  Avhom  might  be  secured  by  prayer.  The 
existence  of  evil  in  the  abstract  has  however  re- 
ceived some  attention. 

Wei  Tao  Tzu  asked  Yii  Li  Tzu,  saying,  “ Is  it 
true  that  God  loves  good  and  hates  evil  ? ” 

“ It  is,”  replied  Yii. 

“ In  that  case,”  rejoined  Wei,  “ goodness 
should  abound  in  the  Empire  and  evil  should  be 
scarce.  Yet  among  birds,  kites  and  falcons  out- 
number phoenixes  ; among  beasts,  wolves  are 
many  and  unicorns  are  few ; among  growing 
plants,  thorns  are  many  and  cereals  are  few  ; 
among  those  who  eat  cooked  food  and  stand  erect, 

56 


MATERIALISM 


the  wicked  are  many  and  the  virtuous  are  few  ; 
and  in  none  of  these  cases  can  you  say  that  the 
latter  are  evil  and  the  former  good.  Can  it  be 
possible  that  what  man  regards  as  evil,  God 
regards  as  good,  and  vice  versa  ? Is  it  that  God 
is  unable  to  determine  the  characteristics  of  each, 
and  lets  each  follow  its  own  bent  and  develop 
good  or  evil  accordingly  ? If  He  allows  good  men 
to  be  put  upon,  and  evil  men  to  be  a source  of 
fear,  is  not  this  to  admit  that  God  has  His  likes 
and  dislikes  ? From  of  old  until  now,  times  of 
misgovernment  have  always  exceeded  times  of 
right  government ; and  when  men  of  principle 
have  contended  with  the  ignoble,  the  latter  have 
usually  won.  Where  then  is  God’s  love  of  good 
and  hatred  of  evil  ? ” 

Yu  Li  Tzu  had  no  answer  to  make. 

The  an  yen  tsa  lu  says,  “ If  the  people  are 
contented  and  happy,  God  is  at  peace  in  His 
mind.  When  God  is  at  peace  in  His  mind,  the 
two  great  motive  Powers  act  in  harmony.” 

The  Pi  chi  on  says,  “ The  empyrean 
God6?3  'S  above  you  is  not  God  ; it  is  but  His 
outward  manifestation.  That  which 
remains  ever  fixed  in  man’s  heart  and  which 
rules  over  all  things  without  cease,  that  is  God. 
Alas,  you  earnestly  seek  God  in  the  blue  sky, 
while  forgetting  Him  altogether  in  your  hearts. 
Can  you  expect  your  prayers  to  be  answered  ? ” 
57 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


This  view — “ For  behold,  the  kingdom  of  God 
is  within  you,”  St.  Luke  xvii.  21, — has  been 
brought  out  by  the  philosopher  Shao  Yung,  a.d. 
1011-1077,  in  the  following  lines: — 

The  heavens  are  still : no  sound. 

Where  then  shall  God  be  found  ? . . . 
Search  not  in  distant  skies  ; 

In  man’s  own  heart  He  lies. 

Convict  °f  Han  Wen-kung,  a.d.  768-824,  the 
eminent  philosopher,  poet,  and  states- 
man, who  suffered  banishment  for  his  opposition 
to  the  Buddhist  religion,  complains  that,  “ of 
old  there  was  but  one  faith ; now  there  are 
three,” — meaning  Confucianism,  Buddhism,  and 
Taoism.  He  thus  pictures  the  simplicity  of 
China’s  ancient  kings 

“ Their  clothes  were  of  cloth  or  of  silk.  They 
dwelt  in  palaces  or  in  ordinary  houses.  They  ate 
grain  and  vegetables  and  fruit  and  fish  and  flesh. 
Their  method  was  easy  of  comprehension : their 
doctrines  were  easily  carried  into  practice.  Hence 
their  lives  passed  pleasantly  away,  a source  of  satis- 
faction to  themselves,  a source  of  benefit  to  man- 
kind. At  peace  within  their  own  hearts,  they 
readily  adapted  themselves  to  the  necessities  of 
the  family  and  of  the  State.  Happy  in  life,  they 
were  remembered  after  death.  Their  sacrifices 
were  grateful  to  the  God  of  Heaven,  and  the  spirits 

58 


MATERIALISM 


of  the  departed  rejoiced  in  the  honours  of 
ancestral  worship.” 

His  mind  seems  to  have  been  open  on  the  sub- 
ject of  a future  state.  In  a lamentation  on  the 
death  of  a favourite  nephew,  he  writes, 

“If  there  is  knowledge  after  death,  this  separa- 
tion will  be  but  for  a little  while.  If  there  is  no 
knowledge  after  death,  so  will  this  sorrow  be  but 
for  a little  while,  and  then  no  more  sorrow  for 
ever.” 

His  views  as  to  the  existence  of  spirits  on  this 
earth  are  not  very  logical  : — 

“ If  there  is  whistling  among  the  rafters,  and  I 
take  a light  but  fail  to  see  anything, — is  that  a 
spirit  ? It  is  not ; for  spirits  are  soundless. 
If  there  is  something  in  the  room,  and  I look 
for  it  but  cannot  see  it, — is  that  a spirit  1 It 
is  not ; spirits  are  formless.  If  something 
brushes  against  me,  and  I grab  at,  but  do  not 
seize  it, — is  that  a spirit  ? It  is  not ; for  if 
spirits  are  soundless  and  formless,  how  can  they 
have  substance  ? 

“ If  then  spirits  have  neither  sound  nor  form  nor 
substance,  are  they  consequently  non-existent  ? 
Things  which  have  form  without  sound  exist  in 
nature  ; for  instance,  earth,  and  stones.  Things 
which  have  sound  without  form  exist  in  nature  ; 
for  instance,  wind,  and  thunder.  Things  which 
have  both  sound  and  form  exist  in  nature  ; for 

59 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


instance,  men,  and  animals.  And  things  which 
have  neither  sound  nor  form  also  exist  in 
nature ; for  instance,  disembodied  spirits  and 
angels.” 

For  his  own  poetical  spirit,  according  to  the 
funeral  elegy  written  some  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  after  his  death,  a great  honour  was  re- 
served : — 

Above  in  heaven  there  was  no  music,  and  God  was  sad, 
And  summoned  him  to  liis  place  beside  the  Throne. 

His  friend  and  contemporary,  Liu  Tsung-yiian, 
a poet  and  philosopher  like  himself,  was  tempted 
into  the  following  reflections  by  the  contempla- 
tion of  a beautiful  landscape  which  he  discovered 
far  from  the  beaten  track  : — 

“Now,  I have  always  had  my 
God*1?16  a doubts  about  the  existence  of  a God  ; 

but  this  scene  made  me  think  He 
really  must  exist.  At  the  same  time,  however, 
I began  to  wonder  why  He  did  not  place  it 
in  some  worthy  centre  of  civilisation,  rather 
than  in  this  out-of-the-way  barbarous  region, 
where  for  centuries  there  has  been  no  one  to  enjoy 
its  beauty.  And  so,  on  the  other  hand,  such  waste 
of  labour  and  incongruity  of  position  disposed 
me  to  think  that  there  could  not  be  a God  after 
aH.” 


60 


MATERIALISM 


In  a.d.  1008  there  was  a pretended 
from^God  revelation  from  God  in  the  form  of 
a letter,  recalling  the  letter  from 
Christ  on  the  neglect  of  the  Sabbath  men- 
tioned by  Roger  of  Wendover  and  Hove  den, 
contemporary  chroniclers.  The  Emperor  and 
his  Court  regarded  this  communication  with  pro- 
found awe ; but  a high  official  of  the  day  said, 
“ I have  learnt  (from  the  Confucian  Discourses) 
that  God  does  not  even  speak  ; how  then  should 
He  write  a letter  ? ” 

The  philosopher  and  commentator, 
Materialism. Chu  Hsi>  AD-  1 130-1200,  whose  in- 
terpretations of  the  Confucian  Canon 
are  the  only  ones  now  officially  recognised,  has 
done  more  than  any  one  since  Confucius  him- 
self to  disseminate  a rigid  materialism  among 
his  fellow-countrymen.  The  “God”  of  the 
Canon  is  explained  away  as  an  “ Eternal 
Principle ; ” the  phenomena  of  the  universe 
are  attributed  to  Nature,  with  its  absurd  personi- 
fication so  commonly  met  with  in  Western 
writers ; and  spirits  generally  are  associated 
with  the  perfervid  imaginations  of  sick  persons 
and  enthusiasts. 

“ Is  consciousness  dispersed  after  death,  or 
does  it  still  exist  ? ” said  an  enquirer. 

“ It  is  not  dispersed,”  replied  Chu  Hsi ; “ it 
is  at  an  end.  When  vitality  comes  to  an 

6i 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 

end,  consciousness  comes  to  an  end  with 
it.” 

He  got  into  more  trouble  over  the  verse  quoted 
on  page  16, 


King  Wen  is  on  high, 

In  glory  in  heaven. 

His  comings  and  his  goings 

Are  to  and  from  the  presence  of  God. 


“If  it  is  asserted,”  he  argued,  “ that  King 
Wen  was  really  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  that 
there  really  is  such  a Being  as  God,  He  certainly 
cannot  have  the  form  in  which  He  is  represented 
by  the  clay  or  wooden  images  in  vogue.  Still, 
as  these  statements  were  made  by  the  Prophets 
of  old,  there  must  have  been  some  foundation 
for  them.” 

There  is,  however,  a certain  amount  of  incon- 
sistency in  his  writings  on  the  supernatural,  for 
in  another  passage  he  says, 

“ When  God  is  about  to  send  down  calamities 
upon  us,  He  first  raises  up  the  hero  whose 
genius  shall  finally  prevail  against  those  calami- 
ties.” 

Sometimes  he  seems  to  be  addressing  the  edu- 
cated Confucianist ; at  other  times,  the  common 
herd  whose  weaknesses  have  to  be  taken  into 
account. 


62 


BUDDHISM,  ETC. 


V. — Buddhism  and  other  Religions 

So  early  as  the  third  century  B.C.,  Buddhism 
seems  to  have  appeared  in  China,  though  it  was 
not  until  the  latter  part  of  the  first  century  a.d. 
that  a regular  propaganda  was  established,  and 
not  until  a century  or  two  later  still  that  this  reli- 
gion began  to  take  a firm  hold  of  the  Chinese 
people.  It  was  bitterly  opposed  by  the  Taoists, 
and  only  after  the  lapse  of  many  centuries  were 
the  two  doctrines  able  to  exist  side  by  side  in 
peace.  Each  religion  began  early  to  borrow  from 
the  other.  In  the  words  of  the  philosopher  Chu 
Hsi,  of  the  twelfth  century,  “ Buddhism  stole 
the  best  features  of  Taoism  ; Taoism  stole  the 
worst  features  of  Buddhism.  It  is  as  though  one 
took  a jewel  from  the  other,  and  the  loser  recouped 
the  loss  with  a stone.” 

From  Buddhism  the  Taoists  borrowed  their 
whole  scheme  of  temples,  priests,  nuns,  and  ritual. 
They  drew  up  liturgies  to  resemble  the  Buddhist 
Sutras,  and  also  prayers  for  the  dead.  They 
adopted  the  idea  of  a Trinity,  consisting  of  Lao 
Tzu,  P’an  Ku  (see  p.  7),  and  the  Ruler  of  the 
Universe  ; and  they  further  appropriated  the 
Buddhist  Purgatory  with  all  its  frightful  terrors 
and  tortures  after  death. 

Nowadays  it  takes  an  expert  to  distinguish 
between  the  temples  and  priests  of  the  two  re- 

63 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


ligions,  and  members  of  both  hierarchies  are 
often  simultaneously  summoned  by  persons  need- 
ing religious  consolation  or  ceremonial  of  any 
kind. 

Doubts  a c^aP^er  on  4 Doubts,”  by  the 

Taoist  philosopher  Mou  Tzu,  we  read, 

“ Some  one  said  to  Mou,  The  Buddhist  doctrine 
teaches  that  when  men  die  they  are  bom  again. 
I cannot  believe  this. 

“ When  a man  is  at  the  point  of  death,  replied 
Mou,  his  family  mount  upon  the  house-top  and 
call  to  him  to  stay.  If  he  is  already  dead,  to 
whom  do  they  call  ? 

“ They  call  his  soul,  said  the  other. 

“ If  the  soul  comes  back,  the  man  lives, 
answered  Mou ; but  if  it  does  not,  whither 
does  it  go  ? 

“ It  becomes  a disembodied  spirit,  was  the 
reply. 

“ Precisely  so,  said  Mou.  The  soul  is  imperish- 
able ; only  the  body  decays,  just  as  the  stalks  of 
corn  perish,  while  the  grain  continues  for  ever 
and  ever.  Did  not  Lao  Tzu  say,  ‘ The  reason 
why  I suffer  so  much  is  because  I have  a 
body  ’ ? 

“ But  all  men  die  whether  they  have  found  the 
truth  or  not,  urged  the  questioner  ; what  then 
is  the  difference  between  them  ? 

“ That,  replied  Mou,  is  like  considering  your 
64 


BUDDHISM,  ETC. 


reward  before  you  have  put  in  right  oonduot  for 
a single  day.  If  a man  has  found  the  truth,  even 
though  he  dies,  his  spirit  will  go  to  heaven  ; if 
he  has  led  an  evil  life  his  spirit  will  suffer  ever- 
lastingly. A fool  knows  when  a thing  is  done, 
but  a wise  man  knows  beforehand.  To  have  found 
the  truth  and  not  to  have  found  it  are  as  unlike  as 
gold  and  leather  ; good  and  evil,  as  black  and 
white.  How  then  can  you  ask  what  is  the  differ- 
ence ? ” 

Buddhism,  which  forbids  the  slaughter  of  any 
living  creature,  has  wisely  abstained  from  de- 
nouncing the  sacrifice  of  victims  at  the  Temple 
of  Heaven  and  at  the  Confucian  Temple.  But 
backed  by  Confucianism  it  denounces  the  slaugh- 
ter for  food  of  the  ox  which  tills  the  soil.  Some 
lines  of  doggerel  to  this  effect,  based  upon  the 
Buddhist  doctrine  of  the  transmigration  of  souls 
and  put  into  the  mouth  of  an  ox,  have  been 
rendered  as  follows  : — 


My  murderers  shall  come  to  grief, 
Along  with  all  who  relish  beef  ; 
When  I’m  a man  and  you’re  a cow, 
I’ll  eat  you  as  you  eat  me  now. 


Fire 

Worshippers 


Mazd6ism,  the  religion  of  Zoroaster, 
based  upon  the  worship  of  fire,  and 
in  that  sense  not  altogether  un- 
familiar to  the  Chinese,  reached  China  some 

65  E 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


time  in  the  seventh  century  a.d.  The  first 
temple  was  built  at  Cli’ang-an,  the  capital,  in 
621,  ten  years  after  which  came  the  famous 
missionary,  Ho  Lu  the  Magus.  But  the  lease  of 
life  enjoyed  by  this  religion  was  of  short  dura- 
tion. 


Islamism. 


Mahometans  first  settled  in  China 
in  the  year  of  the  Mission,  a.d.  628, 
under  Wahb-Abi-Kabcha,  a maternal  uncle  of 
Mahomet,  who  was  sent  with  presents  to  the 
Emperor.  The  first  mosque  was  built  at 
Canton,  where,  after  several  restorations,  it 
still  exists.  There  is  at  present  a very  large 
Mahometan  community  in  China,  chiefly  in 
the  province  of  Yunnan.  These  people  carry  on 
their  worship  unmolested,  on  the  sole  condition 
that  in  each  mosque  there  shall  be  exhibited  a 
small  tablet  with  an  inscription,  the  purport  of 
which  is  recognition  of  allegiance  to  the  reigning 
Emperor. 

In  a.d.  631  the  Nestorian  Church 
introduced  Christianity  into  China, 
under  the  title  of  “ The  Luminous  Doctrine  ; ” 
and  in  636  Nestorian  missionaries  were  allowed 
to  settle  at  the  capital.  In  781  the  famous 
Nestorian  Tablet,  with  a bilingual  inscription 
in  Chinese  and  Syriac,  was  set  up  at  Si-ngan 
Fu,  where  it  still  remains,  and  where  it  was  dis- 
covered in  1625  by  Father  Semedo,  long  after 

66 


Nestorians. 


BUDDHISM,  ETC. 


Nestorianism  had  altogether  disappeared,  leav- 
ing not  a rack  behind. 

In  a.d.  719  an  ambassador  from 
Maniehaeans.  arrjved  at  the  capital. 

He  was  accompanied  by  one  Ta-mou-she,  who 
is  said  to  have  taught  the  religion  of  the  Chal- 
dean Mani,  or  Manes,  who  died  about  a.d.  274. 
In  807  the  Manichaean  sect  made  formal  ap- 
plication to  be  allowed  to  have  recognised 
places  of  meeting ; shortly  after  which  they 
too  disappear  from  history. 

Judaism  The  Jews,  known  to  the  Chinese 
as  those  who  “take  out  the  sinew,” 
from  their  peculiar  method  of  preparing  meat, 
are  said  by  some  to  have  reached  China, 
and  to  have  founded  a colony  in  Honan, 
shortly  after  the  Captivity,  carrying  the  Pent- 
ateuch with  them.  Three  inscriptions  on  stone 
tablets  are  still  extant,  dated  1489,  1512,  and  1663, 
respectively.  The  first  says  the  Jews  came  to 
China  during  the  Sung  dynasty  ; the  second , 
during  the  Han  dynasty  ; and  the  third,  during  the 
Chou  dynasty.  The  first  is  probably  the  correct 
account.  We  know  that  the  Jews  built  a syna- 
gogue at  K’ai-feng  Pu  in  a.d.  1164,  where  they 
were  discovered  by  Ricci  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  where,  in  1850,  there  were  still  to 
be  found  traces  of  the  old  faith,  now  said  to  be 
completely  effaced. 


67 


RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA 


With  the  advent  of  the  Jesuit 
antty!*"  Fathers  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
of  the  Protestant  missionaries,  Marsh- 
man  and  Morrison,  in  1799  and  1807  respec- 
tively, we  pass  gradually  down  to  the  present 
day,  where  we  may  well  pause  and  look  around 
to  see  what  remains  to  the  modern  Chinese 
of  their  ancient  faiths.  It  is  scarcely  too 
much  to  say  that  all  idea  of  the  early  God  of 
their  forefathers  has  long  since  ceased  to  vivify 
their  religious  instincts,  though  the  sacrifices  to 
God  and  to  Earth  are  still  annually  performed 
by  the  Emperor.  Ancestor- worship,  and  the 
cult  of  Confucius,  are  probably  very  much  what 
they  were  many  hundreds  of  years  ago  ; while 
Taoism,  once  a pure  philosophy,  is  now  a corrupt 
religion.  As  to  alien  faiths,  the  Buddhism  of 
China  would  certainly  not  be  recognised  by  the 
Founder  of  Buddhism  in  India  ; Mahometan- 
ism is  fairly  flourishing ; Christianity  is  still 
bitterly  opposed. 


68 


Chronological  Syllabus 

Legendary  Period  (Twenty-ninth  Century  to  Tenth  Cen- 
tury b.o.) — P’an  Ku  and  Creation— First  Worship  of 
Spirits — -Worship  of  God,  with  incense — Sacrifices  to 
Mountains  and  Rivers — Worship  of  Sun,  Moon,  and 
Stars — Institution  of  Ancestral  Worship — God  enjoys 
music,  dancing,  and  burnt  offerings — God  resents  bad 
government — Revelation  in  a Dream — Anthropomor- 
phism— Fetishism — No  Devil — No  Hell — Terms  for  God 
— The  Character  for  “God  ’ is  a picture  of  a Man — God 
and  Jehovah — God  in  the  Odes — Hou  Chi  and  Partheno- 
genesis— Superstitions  and  Supernatural  Manifestations 
— Sacrifice — Ancestral  Worship — Filial  Piety. 

Feudal  Age  (Tenth  Century  to  Third  Century  b.c.) — The 
Influence  of  Confucius — His  Agnosticism — Weakening  of 
Supernatural  Beliefs — Consolidation  of  Confucianism — 
Human  Sacrifices — Prayers  for  Rain — The  Philosophy 
of  Taoism — A Rival  to  Confucianism — But  muting  to 
weaken  the  old  Monotheistic  Faith — Its  Theory  of 
Spirits — Modifications  of  Taoism — The  Elixir  of  Life — 
Evidences  of  a Spiritual  World — -Mysticism. 

The  Empire  (Third  Century  b.c.  to  modern  times). — Argu- 
ments against  a Spiritual  World — Attributes  of  God — - 
Good  and  Evil — Buddhism  appears — Conflict  of  Faiths 
— Struggle  between  Buddhism  and  Taoism — Taoism 
borrows  from  Buddhism  and  becomes  a Religion — 
Mazd6ism  appears — Followed  closely  by  Mahometanism, 
Nestorian  Christianity,  and  Manichaeism — Mahometan- 
ism alone  survived — Jews  arrived  about  Eleventh  Cen- 
tury a.d. — Chu  Hsi  materialised  the  Confucian  Canon — 
Henceforward  Agnosticism  the  rifle  for  literati— Budd- 
hism and  Taoism  (both  debased)  for  the  Masses — The 
Jesuits  arrive  in  the  Sixteenth  Century — Protestant 
Missionaries  date  from  1799. 

69 


Selected  Works  Bearing  on  the  Religions 
of  China 

Religion  in  China.  Joseph  Edkins,  D.D. 

The  Religions  of  China.  James  Legge,  D.D. 

The  Dragon,  Image  and  Demon,  or  the  three  Religions 
of  China.  Rev.  H.  C.  du  Bose. 

Les  Religions  de  la  Chine.  C.  de  Harbez. 

The  Religious  System  of  China : Its  ancient  forms 
evolution,  history,  etc.  J.  J.  de  Groot,  Ph.D. 

The  Sacred  Books  of  China.  James  Legge,  D.D. 

Chinese  Buddhism.  Joseph  Edkins,  D.D. 

Le  Shinntoisme.  Michel  Revon. 


Butler  &•  Tanner  The  Selwood  Printing  Works,  Frome,  and  London. 


DATE  DUE 

HIGHSMITH  #< 

15230 

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In  USA 

